


Curiosity

by HopeSilverheart



Series: Loyalty [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And a heart, Book 3: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Eventual Relationships (in later fics), Gen, Hogwarts Inter-House Friendships, Hogwarts Inter-House Unity, Paganism, Severus Snape has a daughter, The girls change everything, The golden trio doesn't really matter, Traditions, Wizarding Culture, various points of view
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:47:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23840293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeSilverheart/pseuds/HopeSilverheart
Summary: After dealing with Tom Riddle's shade, Victoria Snape and her friends thought that life at Hogwarts would go back to normal. Of course, then Sirius Black escapes from Azkaban, dementors start roaming the grounds, and mysterious rumours spread inside the Ministry of Magic. On top of that, they have to deal with Victoria's tense father, a defence teacher who stares at them suspiciously, and the other students - who are as prejudiced as ever. So much for a peaceful year.At least they still have each other, their families, the traditions they care about so much, and a little something extra that they 'borrowed' from Ginny's brothers.
Series: Loyalty [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1669474
Comments: 42
Kudos: 37





	1. Summer pt. 1: Solitary

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! Welcome to the second fic of my Loyalty Series!
> 
> If you haven't read the first one, I recommend that you do, since this one won't make much sense without it. For those of you who already read Loyalty, welcome back! This second instalment continues to follow Victoria, Ginny, Felicity, and Astoria as they go through their second year at Hogwarts. It will follow the plot of PoA, however just like in the first one, the girls will change quite a few things, and we definitely stray from canon more and more as time goes on. 
> 
> Similarly to Loyalty, Curiosity is very light-hearted and family-friendly. The girls face a few issues, but overall, the first 3 fics are there to build up on our characters' relationships and to world-build a bit in terms of traditions and canon-divergences. If you feel as though I've forgotten to tag something, don't hesitate to tell me, and otherwise, I'll add them as we go. Relationship tags will only start to be relevant during the third fic, so I won't spoil the couples until then (except if there's a pairing that you hate and want to know about that, I suppose). 
> 
> Chapters are edited by my sister @fall27 and myself, but please point out any mistakes or inconsistencies that we might have missed (even we aren't infaillible).
> 
> On that note, I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> PS: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I profit from this fic. The only thing that belongs to me are my Original Characters.

“Victoria!”

Midnight-coloured eyes blinked open and stared confusedly at the room around them for a few moments. Even after two weeks spent in her father’s house, Victoria was still getting used to the idea that this was also  _ her  _ home.

She let her gaze stray from the imposing bookshelves to focus on her father instead. The man was staring at her fondly, his lips quirked up in amusement. Victoria could only blush as she realised that she had fallen asleep whilst reading –  _ again _ .

“We’re leaving in ten minutes,” her father told her. “Take that time to… freshen up.”

Childishly, the dark-haired girl stuck out her tongue at the man, but she – nevertheless – complied. She had managed to convince the Potions Master to take her to a local Quidditch match and she wasn’t going to miss out on it for anything; she may not have been a superfan of the sport, but it was a great opportunity to go out and meet people.

Which was, as she had learned, the exact reason why her father  _ didn’t  _ want to participate in such events. In the time the pair had lived together, not a single person had approached their house, whether muggle or magical. Apparently, the man had weaved powerful enchantments into his –  _ their  _ – house’s wards, and strangers simply didn’t  _ see  _ the place.

It was an effective method of defence, but it also made life utterly  _ boring  _ at times. Victoria read and did her homework, weeded the garden and brewed with her father, went to the market once a week and corresponded with her friends but… Honestly, she lacked human contact.

Unlike her father, she thrived in social situations and would have liked nothing more than to wander from neighbour to neighbour, perhaps offering some baked goods to get on their good side. So far, her favourite professor hadn’t relented in his no-talking-to-anyone stance, but Victoria was confident that she would eventually change his mind.

The Quidditch match was only the first step; a chance for the girl to make friends and use her favourite innocent expression to convince her father that she would  _ love  _ to have them over and that it would be  _ unfair  _ to keep her isolated for a full two months – never mind the fact that the man had already invited her friends from school over.

She grinned at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and quickly re-braided her hair before taking the stairs two steps at a time and bouncing to the entrance hall where her father was waiting.

Even though the house still felt unfamiliar, Victoria  _ loved  _ it. It was a small country house located somewhere in the South of England, close enough to the beach that they could walk there whenever they wanted to. The exterior was what Astoria would call ‘quaint’ and what Ginny would call ‘charming’, but Victoria thought that it was perfect – nothing more and nothing less. Old bricks were covered in controlled ivy, the pathway was lined with flowers of every colour, and there were various trees hiding much of the façade from passer-bys.

The inside was just the right size for a family of two; Victoria and her father each had their own bedroom upstairs, along with a shared bathroom. Downstairs, they had access to a lounge, a kitchen, a small entrance parlour, and surprisingly, a music room just big enough for a piano. Their laboratory was located even further down, in a pale imitation of Hogwarts’ dungeons.

Victoria loved everything about the house; the large garden, the beautiful view, the brewing area, the brand new instruments – she hadn't even known that her father was aware of her passion for music – the small kitchen perfect for experiments… But her favourite part about it, by far, was her bedroom.

Similarly to the room in her father’s quarters at school, the walls been painted in a light shade of lavender that complemented the wooden floors and gave the whole space an airy feel. The large window with a view onto the sea definitely helped in that regard, and her father had made sure that the rest of the furniture was just as fitting. She had added pictures and books and small objects, and she had never loved a room as much as she did that one.

“Ready to go?” her father asked, rolling his eyes as she nodded and skidded out of the house. “Remember the rules, sweetheart, no…”

“No going off on my own, no talking to strangers alone,” she recited the list he had repeated ten times already in the last few hours. “No magic outside of the house, always use an alias,  _ behave _ .”

“Yes, yes, very smart,” her father huffed. “I’m just trying to keep you safe, Victoria.”

“I know, dad,” she said with a small smile. “I appreciate it, believe me, but I don’t need to hear the same thing twenty times; it gets a bit tiresome.”

The man laughed and nodded in acknowledgement, weaving his wand in a complex pattern to lock the house behind them. For all that he had seemed reluctant to attend a Quidditch game, he was dressed in their local team’s colours – because apparently, he  _ did  _ own robes that weren’t black – and was in one of his better moods.

“So, how good is this team, the, uh…” Victoria started, stuttering once she realised that she had forgotten their name. “The Wasps?”

“The Wimbourne Wasps, yes,” her father chuckled. “They are quite a decent team, if one ignores the appalling choice of colours.”

“I  _ was  _ wondering about your decision to dress like a bumblebee, I admit,” Victoria said seriously. “I thought that perhaps you had invited the headmaster without my knowledge, for surely  _ he  _ would appreciate your robes.”

“Keep that sarcasm to yourself, young lady,” her father answered, though he was smirking in amusement. “I mostly support them out of local loyalty; my old house is only half an hour away from here, so they were already my team of choice before the move. However, their main rivals, the Arrows, are much more proper and to my taste.”

She understood his opinion better half an hour later, when the two of them were sitting in the audience stands and found themselves surrounded by  _ buzzing noises _ . Apparently, the Wasps’ fans – dubbed the Stingers – were an obnoxious bunch who tried to distract the opposing team by humming incessantly, just like their mascot.

It was driving Victoria  _ insane  _ and she knew that she must have been wearing the infamous ‘Snape sneer’, as her friends called it. Her father and her, when annoyed, both took on a similar expression of disgust – Ginny found it  _ hilarious _ .

“Regretting your request, sweetheart?” her father asked innocently. Victoria narrowed her eyes at him.

“You _knew_ I was going to hate this!” she hissed. “Why didn’t you tell me about the… the _buzzing_.”

“You were just  _ so  _ insistent,” her father sighed guiltily – Victoria didn’t buy it  _ at all _ . “I didn’t want to break your heart. You had been complaining about being stuck inside and not having anything to do, so I thought that you  _ deserved  _ this. Don’t you agree?”

“I agree that you’re  _ evil _ ,” she whined. “You’re such a  _ Slytherin _ . The girls are going to mock me for weeks, nay! For years!”

When the man only laughed again, Victoria scowled at him and turned back towards the game. At least the players were good; both teams were scoring and flying around crazily, and the dark-haired girl had to admit that it looked exhilarating.

“First time at a Wasps game?” a voice asked from her left, startling Victoria.

She found herself staring into pretty green eyes framed by tousled silver blond hair. The boy who had spoken looked to be around her age, and he was grinning wildly, in the way that most boys did when Quidditch was involved.

“Yes,” she said, frowning slightly as a group of fans yelled behind her. “I wasn’t expecting it to be quite as chaotic as this.”

“Well that’s Quidditch for you, isn’t it?” the boy laughed. “I’m Ciaran O’Hare, by the way, pleasure to meet you.”

“Pleasure to meet you too,” Victoria smiled. “I’m Harmony Prince. I’ve never actually been to a Quidditch game before… My mum’s always busy, but I’m staying with my dad this summer, and he’s  _ weak  _ for my pleading looks.”

“I heard that,” her father cut in, lifting an eyebrow. Victoria shrugged unrepentantly and winked at her newest acquaintance when the potions master turned his attention back towards the game.

“I see,” Ciaran smirked. “So, you support the Wasps?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “My dad probably does, since he’s lived around here for a while, but I haven’t gotten into a specific team yet. What about you?”

“I’m here for the Kestrels, actually,” the boy answered. “My granddad was on the team back in the day, so my family roots for them out of familial duty or something. They’re not bad though; we could have picked worse.”

“So you’re not from around here at all, I take it?” Victoria asked, glad to have found someone to distract her from the noise and the game – which had slowed down in the last five minutes.

“What gave it away?” Ciaran snorted; his accent  _ was  _ quite pronounced. “But no, I’m from Ireland, which is why we haven’t seen each other at school. You must go to Hogwarts, right?”

“Yup,” Victoria confirmed before scrunching up her nose as she tried to remember the name of the biggest Irish school. “And you must be a student at… Nathair Institute?”

“Institiúid draíochta nathair, yeah,” Ciaran nodded. “I’m surprised that you know about it at all; it’s not very large since a lot of Irish folks send their kids to Hogwarts for a ‘better’ education.”

“I read a lot,” Victoria simply said. “What year are you in? I assumed that you were my age, but maybe I’m wrong.”

“About to enter my third,” the boy replied. “I’m from August though; youngest in my year. My parents almost pushed to have me enter with the next class, but I  _ really  _ didn’t want to wait any longer. You?”

“Second year,” she told him. “But I’m from September, so my guess wasn’t completely ridiculous.”

“Ooh, so what do you think of Hogwarts?” Ciaran asked excitedly. “Did your first year live up to your expectations? My cousin was sent there by his parents and he told me that he’s not sure how special the school is; apparently, the headmaster’s a bit... eccentric.”

Victoria burst into giggles and beside her, she could see her father smirking slightly before immediately covering his mouth to hide the small quirk of his lips.

“He definitely is,” the dark-haired girl confirmed. “But the school’s beautiful, and I’ve made amazing friends, so I can’t really complain. I’m not sure if it’s better than Nathair in terms of content and education, but  _ I  _ think it’s decent. Except our Potions Master, he’s absolutely  _ horrible _ .”

The lie was worth it when her father choked on his breath next to her and narrowed his eyes at her dangerously. She grinned at him for a second, but immediately turned back towards her new acquaintance, who was saying that his cousin  _ had  _ told him about a strict and terrifying potions professor. She wondered how Ciaran would react if he knew that the man they were talking about was sitting right next to them – and had to hold back another bout of giggles at the thought.

They spent the next hour or so discussing their respective schools and exchanging stories about the more outlandish events – and although she mentioned Slytherin’s heir, Victoria carefully left out any mention of a particular diary that still haunted her dreams and memories.

By the end of the game – which was won by the Wasps at a close 260-240 – Victoria thought that she might have made a new friend and that now, all she had to do was convince her father that it wouldn’t be harmful to meet up with him on occasion.

She just needed to  _ get out  _ sometimes. She was so used to living in a huge manor with an even larger garden and being left to her own devices that she didn’t know what to do with her father’s constant presence. Her mum and Darius had been too busy to pay attention to her – she was trying to forget about the times when they  _ did  _ remember her – but her father was… overwhelming.  _ Great _ , but still overwhelming.

Which is why, when Ciaran smiled at her as he left with his family and asked her if they could keep in touch, she beamed right back and told him that of  _ course  _ they could.

Her father sighed wearily, but Victoria knew that he wouldn’t stop her from corresponding with her new friend – and that he would eventually cave and let her see him in person again.

* * *

“Come on, Astoria, don’t be such a  _ baby _ !”

Blond hair whipped around as Astoria’s sapphire eyes turned to glare at her younger brother. Thomas was smirking at her, hair drenched from his time spent in the ocean and limbs covered in sand. The blond girl couldn’t help but curl her lip slightly at the sight; she  _ hated  _ the sea.

However, she loved the beach, and her brother even more so, therefore the Greengrass siblings spent a fair amount of their time in France near the Mediterranean Sea, enjoying the freedom that came with being away from their parents.

The three of them may not have loved their aunt, but she doted on them and gave them a home when the Greengrass couple was too busy to take care of their children, and for that they were thankful. Besides, she had a soft spot for Astoria and always taught her things in secret, so the young girl couldn’t really complain.

“I’m not going in there,” she told her brother, looking at the water derisively. “Not a chance, no way. Go bother Daphne or Océane.”

Her brother rolled his eyes at her, but Astoria only smiled serenely. They both knew that neither of the older girls would accept an offer to swim; they were too busy doing  _ serious  _ things together. The two of them were the same age and had always been insufferable, but as they grew, they only got worse. They whispered and gossiped and scowled at Astoria, Thomas, and Paul – Océane’s brother – when they approached the pair.

Eventually, the younger three had stopped trying and spent most of their time together, although Astoria wasn’t overly fond of looking after her younger brother and cousin non-stop.

“You’re no fun,” Thomas pouted. “What are you doing, anyway? Homework?”

The boy sat down next to her and Astoria scooted away, not wanting her messy sibling to ruin her brand-new books. They had been a gift from her aunt, and the woman would be a  _ pain  _ if she found out that the tomes had already been damaged.

“I finished most of my homework already, brat,” she replied. “But Felicity recommended this book and Aunt Jasmine bought it for me a week ago, so I’m enjoying the nice weather and  _ reading _ .”

“What, like you can’t read inside?” Thomas retorted. “Which one’s Felicity again? Is she the one we saw at King’s Cross?”

“No, that was Victoria,” Astoria reminded the boy patiently. “Felicity’s a lot more bookish than Ria, but not quite as much as me. She prefers reading non-fiction and learning and exploring. Also, she  _ would  _ have jumped into that puddle of hell, unlike me.”

“She sounds like fun,” her brother grinned. “Good to know that you found friends that are slightly more adventurous than you; hopefully, she’ll encourage you to try new things from time to time.”

“With Victoria around? Unlikely, but you can still dream,” Astoria chuckled. “I wonder how mum and dad will react when they realise that you’re going into  _ Gryffindor _ .”

Thomas turned horrified eyes on her.

“You think I might go to the  _ lions _ ?!” he exclaimed. “But that would mean being away from Daphne and you, and I’d probably have no friends, and everyone would look at me like I’m nothing more than a… a  _ junior death eater _ .”

“Excuse me?” Astoria hissed. “Where did you hear that? Who called you such a  _ filthy  _ thing?”

“No one,” the blond boy winced. “Just… When we went to the Malfoys’ ball last year, there were… A few light-side kids who we’d never met before, and they were whispering about us all night long. I don’t think they really  _ meant it _ , but still, I don’t want to spend seven years surrounded by people who think I’m evil.”

“And you won’t,” Astoria sighed. “Look, Thomas… Kids are mean, no matter what side of the war their parents were on. Whoever used that name probably regretted it later when they realised that they shouldn’t be throwing words like that around for no good reason. And Hogwarts… My friends and I have been working hard to stop house rivalries and frankly? We’ve been doing a good job. I’ve visited every common room and slept over with the girls and everyone in our year gets along. We don’t exactly  _ love  _ each other all the time but believe me when I say that if your friends go to Slytherin and you end up in Gryffindor, it’ll be fine.”

“You didn’t always sleep in your own dormitory?” Thomas asked, eyes wide and curious. “How does that even work; are there no security measures in place or something?”

“Not really,” the elder of the two explained. “Slytherin and Gryffindor have passwords, Ravenclaw has a riddle-delivering knocker, and Hufflepuff has a little tune to recreate, but none of those things prevent us from visiting the different house spaces. The Heads can tell how many students are in each dorm at all times, but we found a pretty simple way to fool  _ that  _ system.”

Her brother was bouncing with curiosity but Astoria only smirked. If he wanted to have sleepovers, he’d have to figure that trick out by himself. The first-years – almost second-years now – had promised to keep that secret close to their chests and let the new students struggle for a while before helping them.

“You’re annoying,” Thomas whined, sticking his tongue out at his sister. “I’ll just ask someone else.”

“If you even remember this conversation by the time you get to Hogwarts,” Astoria laughed. “You’ve still got a year to go, little brother, be  _ patient _ .”

Thomas only mumbled unhappily at her words; Astoria knew that the boy was tired of being stuck at home with their parents whilst his sisters were off making friends and learning things. No matter his feelings on the matter, he  _ was  _ quite gryffindorish, and being stuck inside didn’t suit him at all.

The Greengrasses were wealthy and well-known, but life at the manor was dull and lonely. Their father had his business to take care of as well as politics to deal with, and their mother spent all of her time entertaining guests and attending social events to uphold their high status. Astoria was  _ very  _ glad that the heirship was going straight to Daphne; she was much too timid to handle it well, and Thomas would have despised the role.

“What’s up, little ones?” an airy voice brought Astoria back to the present.

Daphne and Océane had joined them, dressed in their elegant swimsuits and looking just as dignified as two pureblood girls should. Astoria swallowed back the jealousy that blossomed in her chest and smiled softly at the pair. They were  _ beautiful _ , and she wondered if she would ever come  _ close  _ to them.

She knew, logically, that Daphne and her looked alike, but it was a whole other thing to  _ believe it _ . Océane had the same golden hair as them, but her skin was a darker honey colour, and her eyes were more turquoise than sapphire. The resemblance was undeniable, but not quite as obvious as between the sisters.

“Astoria was telling me about how her friends and her were working against the ‘rivalry’ at Hogwarts,” Thomas replied, grinning at his sister and cousin. “Apparently, they have a way of getting into each other’s common rooms and tricking the professors.”

“Hmm,” Daphne raised a delicate eyebrow. “I  _ have  _ seen quite a few non-Slytherins in the dungeons. It drives Draco  _ crazy _ , much to everyone’s delight.”

Astoria frowned at the mention of the blond boy, who had tried to separate the first-years and restore ‘order’ within Slytherin. After their first confrontation and the subsequent lecture from Snape – who had been  _ livid  _ to find out that some upper-years had decided to gang up on the youngest snakes – Malfoy had been a lot more subtle.

Astoria and her housemates had ‘lost’ a fair number of belongings, to the point where they had all looked up wards and charms that would keep thieves away. It was a good learning opportunity, but it had been  _ hell  _ until they had figured out how to stop Malfoy and his cronies.

His petty actions had frustrated everyone, and even the upper-years had started asking the boy and friends to leave off the first-years so that they could study in peace.

“Enough about school,” Océane huffed. “Why don’t you tell me about those friends of yours, Astoria? They sound fascinating; Daphne said that one of them was one of your  _ professors’ _ daughter, and that you had even cosied up to a  _ Weasley _ .”

Astoria grit her teeth at the thinly-veiled insult to Ginny’s family and sighed at the eager look in her cousin’s eyes. The French girl was always so  _ insistent _ , and as the eldest of their little group, she believed that she deserved their respect and obedience.

_ Only two more weeks to go _ , Astoria told herself, wondering why a country as beautiful as France had to be ruined by people as entitled as her family.

* * *

“Miss Eastchurch, are you lost?”

Felicity didn’t look away from the starry sky as one of her family’s american companions sat down next to her.

They had made it to Los Angeles earlier that day and had been taken to the city’s magical district, which was huge and truly a town in its own right. The air was clearer than London’s, and the people were kinder.

Indeed, as Felicity and her father had been wandering through Arizona aimlessly, they had been spotted by a group of locals who had volunteered to take them to California. The young man sitting next to her, Adam, was one of their guides, and asked her the same question every night when Felicity strayed from the city lights in order to find an open space.

“You know that I’m not,” she answered quietly. “I’m just thinking. Also, the stars here are even prettier than in San Diego. I find it a bit strange, given how big Los Angeles is.”

“The wonders of magic, Felicity,” Adam smiled. “Las Estrellas is the largest magical community in the United States, therefore the spells weaved around it are a lot stronger than the ones down South, or even in your beloved London. Some of the world’s most powerful wizards live here, and they value astronomy as much as any other kind of magic. How would we study the stars if we weren’t able to see them?”

“Still, it’s… strange,” the brunette murmured. “I’m not used to seeing the constellations so clearly without a telescope.”

“Well I’m glad you get to enjoy it now,” Adam said. “There’s a reason why this city is called  _ The Stars _ .”

“You seem to like this place,” Felicity pointed out. “I haven’t heard you sound so  _ fond  _ of a place before now. Any reason why?”

“I studied here,” Adam grinned at her. “After my years at Ilvermorny, I applied for an apprenticeship under one of the best wandmakers in the country, right here in Las Estrellas, and I was accepted. I may have grown up in Arizona, but Los Angeles and its magical equivalent are my home. The magic here is intoxicating, and I miss it every day.”

“I get that,” Felicity sighed wistfully. “Obviously, I’ve never been in a place quite as powerful as Las Estrellas before, but… Hogwarts is filled to the brim with magic and going back home was a shock. I had just spent  _ months  _ in an oversaturated area, so our apartment felt  _ empty _ , even though my parents were there and showering me with love.”

“Are you magically sensitive?” Adam inquired, eyes curious. “Don’t feel obligated to answer, I was just wondering.”

“I don’t mind,” the brunette shrugged. “And I don’t think so. I have a decent amount of magic, so I’m always  _ aware  _ of it, but not particularly  _ sensitive _ .”

The young man hummed thoughtfully, turning his attention back to the stars. The silence was comfortable and – not for the first time – Felicity found herself hoping that Adam and she would be able to maintain a long-distance friendship. Their beliefs and experiences – the ones that Felicity had already lived through – matched up so well, and he had a way of explaining things that… made sense.

“You uphold the traditions, right?” she asked quietly, waiting for Adam to nod before continuing. “Does it feel different here? Are the rituals stronger?”

“In a way, yes,” her friend answered. “It’s easier to connect with magic, and nature is all around us, so the Rites respond to us better. But you know just as well as I do that traditions are mostly made potent through the practitioner, not the place. Our beliefs stem from the individual, and so long as you stand for our world and respect Magic, the rituals will be successful.”

“Right, it’s just that…” she started. “I can’t imagine how amazing it must feel to celebrate the traditions here, especially when they’re at night. I wish that we were staying longer, if only so that I could participate in the Lammas festivities here.”

“They  _ are  _ quite beautiful,” Adam admitted. “And it is your birthday soon, isn’t it? I remember hearing your father talk about celebrating it in July.”

“It is,” Felicity nodded. “My twelfth birthday, too, which is why he wants us to be back home before midnight on the 21 st . He’s afraid that I’ll lose control of my magic and damage something. I think he’s being overly cautious, but… I understand.”

“Indeed,” a new voice cut in; surprised, Felicity jumped up, her heart beating wildly in her chest.

“Dad!” she cried out as she spotted their eavesdropper. “You scared the magic out of me! What are you even doing out here at this time?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” her father pointed out, taking a seat on the grass next to Adam. Slowly, Felicity copied him, bracketing the American in between the two Eastchurches. “I wondered what the two of you did at night, but now I see. The stars are stunning here, aren’t they?”

“They are,” Felicity muttered. “Were you not able to sleep?”

“I had work to do, darling,” the man explained. “Besides, how could I possibly sleep when there are views like this one to admire? If an eleven-year-old girl can stay up late looking at the stars, then who’s stopping me from doing the same thing?”

“A fair point, sir,” Adam laughed. “I was just telling Felicity about the wonders of Las Estrellas. I have to admit that I’m also disappointed the two of you won’t be here to celebrate Lammas with us; it’s one of my favourite days of the year.”

“A shame,” Felicity’s father agreed. “However, I find myself eager to get back to my wife. As much as I love magic, I’m not as eager as my little miracle, and I’m glad that we’ll be performing our traditions as we always do. Old people like me need all the comfort they can get.”

“Oh please,” Felicity scoffed. “You’re hardly  _ old _ , you’re just a sentimental man who loves mum more than anything in the world, maybe even more than you love  _ me _ .”

“Preposterous!” her father exclaimed, bringing his hands to his chest as though he had been wounded by her words. “I could never choose between my two ladies, the lights of my life, the reasons for my happiness.”

“We get it, dad, we get it,” Felicity said, scrunching up her nose. Parents could be so  _ embarrassing. _

“I’m sure that Mrs. Eastchurch will be glad to see you both again,” Adam said, poorly concealing his own amused smirk. “And it would be unfair for her to miss out on her daughter’s birthday, especially one as important as this year’s!”

“Mum doesn’t really care about the numbers,” Felicity pointed out. “I mean, if we tell her that it matters, she’ll make a big deal out of it, but she doesn’t really know the meaning behind it all. Two of my best friends have already turned twelve, and they both said that it feels… overwhelming in all of the most amazing ways. I don’t think mum gets that, even though she tries.”

“You’re right, of course,” her father said seriously. “But don’t underestimate your mother, Felicity. Her lack of magic doesn’t mean that she doesn’t know how important it is to us, and you’d be surprised at how much she feels. Spending so much time with us has made her perceive things differently.”

“There’s a study about such a thing,” Adam added. “A few well-known magic-users realised that Muggles who live in close contact with magic tend to… not feel it, exactly, but know that it’s there. Squibs who remain with their blood family have more chances of having magical children, and muggleborns are more numerous in areas that border wizarding communities. After your birthday, your mother will most likely notice that  _ something  _ is different. She won’t know what, and won’t be able to explain it, but she’ll have a certain degree of awareness. Simply put, she’ll know that you’ve changed.”

“That’s… amazing,” Felicity gaped. “I had no idea! Why don’t we learn about this at school? Is it something we deal with later on so that we’re all more level-headed? Does this mean that there are more muggleborns born around Hogwarts as well? This changes so many things!”

“It’s quite a recent discovery,” Adam told her calmly. “So I doubt that you’ll be hearing about it at school, especially since the study is American and you British folks are… less open to change, most of the time. At least when it comes to the older generations. But to answer your question then yes, there probably are a few muggleborns who live near Hogwarts, and the rest of them are most likely from large cities such as London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Dublin, Cardiff…”

“That’s so interesting,” the brunette said softly. “Hopefully it’ll be common knowledge someday!”

“It would definitely help a lot,” her father said thoughtfully. “Squibs wouldn’t be looked down on quite as much, schools for muggleborns could be put in place at the border between muggle and magical communities, and the purebloods might finally understand that not having magic doesn’t make Muggles useless or stupid.”

Felicity couldn’t help but wonder why British wizards hadn’t come to the same conclusion. Sometimes, it seemed that politics and the discourse on blood purity were the only things holding their society back. There was so much to discover, so much to learn and explore, but the higher-ups were too concerned with their own image to look past their perfect little bubbles.

The brunette could only hope that her generation would be better, and that she and her yearmates would be able to move things along. After all, Magic was  _ so much bigger  _ than them.


	2. Summer pt. 2: Mummies, Mothers & Mass Murderers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! 
> 
> Hope you're all doing well! With everything going on right now, I know that our heads aren't all in the right place, so I can only hope that this fic brings you a little bit of entertainement and distraction... 
> 
> That being said, this is the second summer chapter out of 3, and continues to follow the girls in their individual lives. We'll be seeing the four of them back together in the next chapter, and I hope you're looking forward to that!
> 
> Enjoy! <3

Ginny loved her brothers.

Ron was overprotective, but she knew that deep down he meant well. Fred was incorrigible, but he had taught her how to fly. George was the biggest prankster she knew – he was  _ definitely  _ the twin to look out for – but he was an incredible listener. Percy was stuck-up, but he had always taken care of her when their mother had been too busy to keep an eye on the youngest set of children. Charlie was rarely home, but he gave her the  _ best  _ gifts.

So, she loved all of them.

Bill, however, was different. He was the one who had calmed her when she woke up crying, and he was the one who had taught her how to read when she had stolen his books. He braided her hair, kept quiet when she snuck out to fly, told the most amazing stories, and sent her letters every week.

However, Bill also lived in Egypt. And as it turned out, Ginny  _ hated  _ Egypt. It was always hot – or intolerably cold – and there was sand  _ everywhere _ . She knew, logically, that it was only that way because they had decided to camp out in the desert, but it didn’t make it any nicer.

The pyramids were huge, and Ginny had almost gotten lost at least three times; her brothers thought that the whole trip was  _ fantastic _ ; her parents were too busy taking pictures on her dad’s new camera to control the boys. Overall, although the youngest Weasley was delighted to see her favourite brother again, the only thing she wanted to do was go back to England.

It didn’t help that she had only gotten three letters from her friends – one from Victoria and two from Astoria – because of the distance.

She missed the Burrow, missed her bed, missed the late nights spent flying alone, missed hanging out with Luna Lovegood – a friend of hers who lived near their house – and most of all, she missed Felicity and the Rias.

She knew that they would be seeing each other again as soon as they had all made it back to the UK, but time seemed to drag by. She had gotten used to being surrounded by people who understood her and constantly knew what was on her mind, so a whole month in the company of her family only was… difficult.

“Hey Gin,” her eldest brother’s voice interrupted her musings.

The girl looked up when she felt a small quilt drape her shoulders and smiled at Bill’s worried eyes.

“Hey Bill, what’s with the blanket?” she asked, ignoring his concerned features.

“The sun’s setting,” her brother pointed out. “And you know how cold it gets at night. I wouldn’t want my favourite sibling to die of hypothermia, now would I?”

“That  _ would  _ be unfortunate,” Ginny agreed, her lips twitching in amusement. “I can only hope that  _ my  _ favourite sibling remembered to cast a warming charm.”

“Indeed he did,” Bill said, sitting down next to her on the sand. “So Gin, what do you think about Egypt? Does it live up to all your expectations?”

Ginny didn’t answer immediately, looking down at her hands instead. Truthfully, she had  _ wanted  _ to like the country. She had wanted to see what Bill had described in his letters; the magic, the beauty, the people… But the pyramids scared her, and the desert only made her miss home more.

“Not really,” she murmured. “I thought I would, and I’m definitely happy to see you, but… It’s so empty here. So big and sandy and  _ different _ . I don’t think it’s meant for me at all.”

“Maybe not,” Bill hummed. “And I’m sorry to hear that you’re not enjoying this trip as much as the others are, but I’m glad you came, Gin. It gets lonely here, and even though I love the boys, we both know that they have their own things going on. Charlie’s been flirting non-stop with one of my co-workers, Percy’s working on next year’s Ministry applications, the twins are spreading chaos, and Ron is off getting into trouble. So I’m a  _ little bit  _ happy that the best thing about  _ your  _ stay here so far is me.”

“How modest, big brother,” Ginny huffed, though she was definitely grinning now. “But you’re not wrong. I wish you were home more often.”

“Sometimes, so do I,” Bill said softly. “But this place has its charms, and every time I think about leaving, I find something extraordinary that holds me back. I think my magic  _ really  _ likes this place, so for now I’m staying. I’ll make it back to England someday, though, don’t worry about that; I’ll come to  _ all  _ of your Quidditch games when you’re the country’s best player.”

The redheaded girl blushed furiously at the compliment to her flying skills; no matter how much her mother hated it, Ginny was  _ great _ and as long as she could climb on a broom, she wouldn’t give up on Quidditch.

“I need to become the best  _ Hogwarts  _ player first, Bill,” she pointed out. “And the Gryffindor team won’t need any new Chasers for at least two years…”

“There’ll still be try-outs,” her brother raised an eyebrow. “Are you telling me that you don’t believe you can outfly even  _ one  _ of the current chasers? The captain won’t hesitate to replace one of his team’s members if someone  _ better  _ shows up, Gin. You deserve this spot, so  _ go for it _ .”

“But what if I’m not good enough?” she murmured. “What if I try out and make a complete fool of myself?”

She was confident in her abilities, yes, but she wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that a twelve-year-old could beat out three girls with more practise and better control. A part of her  _ wanted  _ to have that kind of self-confidence, but she… couldn’t.

_ You need to be stronger, little girl. _

(They were echoes, she told herself, echoes only. Memories, scars, he was  _ gone _ .)

Bill was looking at her worriedly, and not for the first time, Ginny wished that she could tell him about the diary and Tom and being possessed and realising that there had been a  _ person  _ in her mind. She wished that she could explain how it had felt, to be told that she had  _ let herself  _ be used and controlled by the shadow of a dark lord.

But Victoria had protected her, had lied for her, had placed herself in a delicate position, and Ginny couldn’t risk that. If Bill told their mother and their mother took the matter to Dumbledore, the youngest Weasley’s involvement would be revealed, which was something she very much  _ didn’t  _ want.

“Look, Gin,” Bill sighed. “I’m not going to push you to tell me about whatever’s on your mind. The only thing I can promise you is that no one will judge you if you don’t try out, and no one will mock you if you fail. There are a lot of people who care about you at Hogwarts, and I’m not just talking about our lovely brothers. You haven’t talked much about your friends, but I know that you trust them. So, trust that they’ll support you, no matter what. I’m sure that they’d cheer for you the loudest if you joined the team.”

Guilt filled her once more as she realised how much she had been hiding from her family, even Bill, whom she loved more than anyone else. Talking about the diary was out of the question, but her friends? Well… She had to start eventually, especially since she knew that Victoria would be inviting them over soon enough.

“I’m sure they would,” she agreed. “Have the boys… Have they said anything about who my friends are?”

“Not really,” Bill admitted. “I think the twins and Ron were too busy with their own things to pay attention to your little group, and Percy doesn’t talk to us on a good day, so even if he knows who they are, he won’t be sharing that information with us. But you know that we don’t really mind, right? Mum and dad are worried, but they won’t force the names out of you.”

“I know they won’t,” Ginny said. “And I want to believe that they’d be fine with it, because mum cares about all of your friends equally, and dad is always so kind to everyone, but…”

“But your friends aren’t quite the embodiment of Gryffindor that they’re used to?” Bill guessed. “They’re probably aware that you have reasons, Ginny, but you underestimate how much they value our judgement. If these people are good enough for you, then they’re good enough for us.”

“Right,” Ginny said slowly. “If I… If I tell you about them, do you promise not to tell them? I’ll get to it eventually, but… Maybe in a few days.”

Her brother nodded easily, and Ginny smiled at him gratefully.

Then, she started her story. She told him about how hard Hogwarts had been at first – claiming homesickness, of course – and how in the end, she had been saved from loneliness by a plain-looking first-year whose name she couldn’t remember. She talked about Felicity and how kind she had been, how welcoming and patient and understanding.

She told him about Victoria and Astoria, who had done their best to erase the barriers between the different houses and who had quickly extended a hand in friendship to the redhead and the brunette. She talked about Victoria’s endless compassion, about Astoria’s shy but witty nature, about their falling outs and their reconciliations.

She told him that she had never thought that she would meet people with whom she fit in so perfectly. She talked about learning and exploring and pranks and sleepovers, before whispering about traditions and Slytherins and potion professors. By the end of her tale, Bill was looking at her fondly, his eyes proud.

“I’d say that you’ve found yourself an  _ impeccable  _ group of friends, Gin,” he soothed her. “Who cares about their families or their beliefs? As long as they care, mum and dad will welcome them with open arms. I wish  _ I  _ could thank those girls for putting a grin like that on your face.”

And just like that, most of Ginny’s concerns faded away, leaving behind the feeling of belonging that she had experienced all year long. Of  _ course  _ her parents would understand, because they loved her, and they wanted her to be happy. Incapable of telling Bill everything that was going through her head, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

“Bill! Ginny! Run, run, run!!”

“Guys, there’s a  _ mummy  _ behind us! Bill, why didn’t you tell us that those things were real?!”

The two calmer siblings rolled their eyes at the twins and Ron as they ruined the moment by sprinting past them as though they were truly being chased by dead pharaohs.

“Two sickles on the twins tricking Ron,” Bill murmured with a smirk.

“Weak bet,” Ginny huffed. “But you’re on. My money’s on George making the whole thing up by himself.”

* * *

“How are the Weasleys doing?”

Victoria blinked blearily at her father, wondering why the man was asking her  _ anything  _ at such an ungodly time of the day. He knew that she barely functioned for a few hours after waking up.

“They’re fine,” she mumbled, looking back at the piece of toast in front of her and glaring when she noticed the burnt edges. “Why’re you asking?”

“No reason,” the man answered, but he was frowning at the Daily Prophet and his shoulders were tenser than usual. “I just remembered you telling me that they were coming back soon.”

“They should have gotten home yesterday, I think,” she told him. “What’s so offensive about the paper?”

Her father sighed, looking at her thoughtfully before shaking his head.

“We’ll talk about it when you’re a little bit more cognisant,” he said firmly. “This isn’t a conversation to be had over breakfast. Besides, the Headmaster will probably be coming over to talk about this… issue later on, so you’ll hear about it then.”

Victoria grumbled slightly at him but knew that it would be pointless to argue. If her father had decided that she would only find out when Dumbledore came over, then there was nothing she could do about it until then. She doubted that he would leave the newspaper laying around, so she’d have to be patient.

Patience, a very Hufflepuff virtue. One that Victoria, regardless of her house placement, did  _ not  _ possess. At least not when it came to matters that made her father’s face pinch in worry and something a little bit like hatred.

She spent the entire morning fidgeting, looking for something to do. She tried to read, but nothing could hold her attention; she thought about doing homework, but quickly remembered that she had completed her final essay the night before; she could have gone outside, but it was raining heavily. She cleaned her room, sat in front of the piano for half an hour, played the violin until her fingers hurt, but Dumbledore still hadn’t arrived.

Lunch was interminable; her father received a letter that only made his frown deepen and told her that the contents would be shared with her  _ later _ .

Later, later, later. She wished for sun, or a fascinating book, or a potion to brew. She crossed her fingers in the hopes of making Dumbledore arrive faster and pouted when the hours ticked by without a sign of the old man.

And then, finally, when Victoria had begun to think that she would have to wait another day, she heard the tell-tale sound of apparition in their front yard. She dropped the book that she had been staring at for an hour – one about runes that she would have to come back to when she was a little bit more focused – and hurried downstairs, taking the steps two at a time and settling into her comfortable armchair in the living room.

When her father and Dumbledore entered the room, she was vibrating with anticipation, barely managing to greet her headmaster politely. Which is why, when the man opened his mouth to say…

“Perhaps a private conversation would be more appropriate, Severus.”

… she seethed on the inside.  _ Absolutely  _ not. She had respected her father’s wishes, not even trying to find the Daily Prophet, and had stayed out of his way, knowing that he was in an awful mood. She would  _ not  _ be left out.

When her father glanced in her direction, she narrowed her eyes at him and let steel overtake her features. She would be included, or there would be hell to pay. If her father had a problem with that, then he could only blame himself. After all, he was the one who had told her that she could trust him, and that she should never be afraid of standing up for what she wanted.

He had told her that he would never be like her stepfather and would never treat her the way her mother had, and in her mind, this was his first real test. The other two adults in her life had constantly kept her out of the loop, making her step away when they were having a ‘serious’ conversation, only telling her the bare minimum.

This was her father’s chance to prove that he wasn’t expecting her to trust someone who wouldn’t grant her the same privilege in return. This was his chance to be the better parent.

“Victoria deserves to understand what’s going on,” the dark-haired man said firmly. “I promised her that she would learn about the situation when you came to talk to us, and I’m a man of my word, Albus. She  _ stays _ .”

For all that she had been confident that her father would stay true to his earlier words, Victoria couldn’t help the slight sigh of relief that escaped her lips. Her father looked at her and let his gaze soften, and Victoria smiled at him shyly.

“As you wish, Severus,” the headmaster sighed. “Have you told her  _ anything  _ about the events?”

“No, I was waiting for you, just in case the Prophet has decided to exaggerate or downplay certain aspects,” her father explained, which went a long way to soothe Victoria’s ruffled feathers. Of  _ course  _ her father had had a good reason to make her wait.

“I see,” Dumbledore said, turning to look at her with a grandfatherly smile and twinkling eyes – a face she had lied to, repeatedly. “Tell me, Miss Snape, do you know who Sirius Black is?”

“Of course I do,” she huffed. Where did the man think she had been raised? Under a rock? “He was the Potters’ secret keeper and betrayed their location to the Dark Lord, leading to their murder. He then went on to kill a dozen muggles and a fellow wizard. He’s serving a life sentence in Azkaban.”

“All very true,” the man nodded. “Except for one detail; as of last night, he is no longer behind bars. No one is sure of how or why, but he managed to escape from Azkaban.”

Victoria gasped, her heart rate increasing. The man was an insane murderer, a  _ coward  _ who had betrayed his best friends, one of the most dangerous wizards alive. And he had  _ escaped _ ?!

“And do you… Do you have your suspicions, sir?” she managed to ask. “About why he escaped, I mean.”

“The mind is a complicated thing to understand, my girl,” the headmaster said seriously, using that thrice-damned title again. “Especially in the case of a mad man. However, one can only assume that he will try to accomplish what his master failed to do before him.”

“That’s…” Victoria started, before cutting herself off. It wasn’t a ridiculous idea, of course, but it didn’t make much sense. If Black was out to kill the last Potter, wouldn’t he have escaped earlier? Except if he had only  _ just  _ found a way to leave the prison, but still… “So you think Potter’s in danger, sir?”

“Young Harry has always been in danger,” the man said, and Victoria had to refrain from rolling her eyes. “But yes, I believe that Mister Black will be trying to harm him, although I am unsure  _ how _ , as the dear boy is safe where he is now and will be even safer at Hogwarts.”

“Which is why you’re here, isn’t it, Albus?” her father asked, finally speaking up. “To talk about whatever security measures you will be putting in place?”

“Indeed,” the headmaster confirmed, looking back towards the Potions Master. “Although, in this case, the Ministry has acted even faster than I have. They have decided that the best way to find Sirius Black is to use dementors and will be sending quite a lot of them to Hogwarts as… protection.”

_ Dementors _ as  _ protection _ ? Had the Ministry gone  _ insane _ ?

“Surely you will not allow such a  _ ridiculous  _ thing to happen, Albus?” her father snarled, echoing her thoughts. “Those things will be nothing more than a danger to our students! They will suck the life and joy out of them!”

“Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do,” Dumbledore replied, blue eyes full of regret. Unlike his smiles, Victoria rather thought that the sadness was real. “I have managed to convince Cornelius to keep them to the grounds, and never to the halls, but that is all that I can do for now.”

“And what of your own personal security measures? I strongly doubt that you are going to leave the capture of  _ Black _ up to  _ dementors _ ,” her father drawled.

“You know me too well, Severus,” the headmaster said cheerfully, his twinkle back in full-force. “I have decided to hire a Defence teacher that should be able to help us in our endeavour. I do hope that you’ll cooperate, dear boy.”

“What have you done, Albus? Who have you hired?” the potions master hissed.

“Remus Lupin.”

The window behind Victoria shattered and splintered into hundreds of small pieces of glass, and the young girl cried out fearfully – and in pain, as she could feel one of the fragments cutting into her forearm.

Immediately, the fury on her father’s face disappeared and was replaced with horror. He hurried towards her and took her bloodied appendage into his large hands carefully, waving his wand over it and whispering a healing spell until the skin was like new.

“I’m so sorry,” he told her, over and over, his hands shaking. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart, I shouldn’t have lost control like that.”

“It’s okay,” she murmured. “Dad, I’m okay, it’s fine.”

And strangely enough, it was. He had hurt her, but he hadn’t wanted to, and he had healed her immediately. There had been a second when her heart had taken over her brain and had screamed at her to get away, but the feeling had left as quickly as it had come.

She was fine.

“I see that your feelings for Remus haven’t changed,” the headmaster sighed, earning himself twin glares from the Snapes in the room. “I know that you never got along, but you should leave the past in the past, Severus.”

“Do not assume that you know how I feel about Lupin,” her father sneered. “Let me guess, you want me to brew Wolfsbane for him?”

Suddenly, her dad’s reaction was completely understandable. Dumbledore had hired a  _ werewolf  _ to teach them. Sure, they were mostly harmless outside of the full moon, but what had the headmaster been thinking? A single mistake and the man could  _ kill  _ a student!

“I know that it’s a lot to ask for, Severus,” the headmaster said placatingly. “But I believe that Remus will be a huge help in our efforts to locate Sirius. I trust that you won’t let year-old resentment get in the way of your students’ safety.”

“Of course,” her father said, gritting his teeth. Victoria thought that his self-control was  _ impressive _ . She would definitely have blown up at Dumbledore for talking about  _ safety  _ right after announcing that he had hired a  _ werewolf _ .

The man continued talking about the new professor and the dementors and the changes that would be put in place at Hogwarts until finally –  _ finally  _ – he took his leave, thanking her father for his hospitality. The silence he left in his wake was a blessing; if Victoria had had to listen to him for a second longer, she would have exploded.

“Well, that was interesting,” Victoria muttered, making her father laugh weakly.

“Indeed,” the man huffed. “Forgive me again for my outburst earlier; I shouldn’t have lost control, especially not when you were in the same room as I was. Lupin and I have a… complicated past.”

“It’s really fine, dad, you’re forgiven,” she reassured him. “I’m not feeling great about having a werewolf professor either.”

“The man’s lost his mind,” her father said exasperatedly. “And unfortunately, I have some more news for you, and I’m unsure about your reaction.”

Victoria sighed, deciding that she’d rather get it over with and gesturing for the man to tell her.

“Your mother sent me a letter,” he announced. Victoria froze, her eyes widening. “She wishes to see you, and I saw no reason to refuse. She’ll be coming over in a few days.”

Amazing, great,  _ perfect _ .

She couldn’t  _ wait _ .

* * *

The morning of Melody’s visit dawned bright and early, and Severus sighed as he got up to start his day. He had invited the woman for tea in the afternoon, not wanting her to overstay her welcome by lingering all day, but he wondered if he would be able to get anything done with the upcoming disaster in mind.

Victoria had been particularly withdrawn the evening before, and Severus knew that she was dreading her mother’s visit even more than he was. Although the man didn’t know the details of the two girls’ relationship, he knew that it wasn’t a simple one.

They cared for each other, he knew, but Melody had been a lacklustre parent, and Severus’ arrival had made their daughter realise that she could have  _ so much more _ . Her mother had been absent, only mildly concerned about her well-being, and had let her abuse go unchecked. On the other hand, he had offered her a home, listened to her, and did his best to make sure that she was safe and unharmed.

So he didn’t know much about their relationship, but he knew that ever since he had gotten guardianship, very few letters had been exchanged between the pair. He didn’t even think that Melody had been notified about Victoria’s stay in the hospital wing back in April.

Tea was bound to be eventful, and Severus was indeed unable to focus all day long. He didn’t even  _ try  _ to brew, knowing that it would be disastrous, instead going out for a walk with Victoria. They didn’t talk much, and lunch was a quiet affair, but his daughter’s nervousness was obvious in the way she played with the hem of her clothes even more than usual.

By the time Melody knocked on their front door, both of them were tightly strung and staring at their respective books uselessly.

He sprang out of his seat, making it to the entrance hall in record time and only pausing slightly before opening the door. Behind him, he could hear Victoria shuffling into the room and taking a deep breath to steady herself.

Melody looked as beautiful as she always had. Her dark hair had been braided – making Severus wonder if she was the one who had taught their daughter how to style her hair – and her light blue eyes hadn’t dulled at all. However, her jaw was clenched in a way that it had never been in the past, and she looked a lot plainer than she ever had before.

He had loved her, once upon a time, but looking at her a decade later, he couldn’t remember why. The girl he had fallen for was nowhere to be seen.

“Severus,” she greeted him, brows furrowed.

“Melody,” he answered, doing his best to sound cordial. He wasn’t doing this for her or for himself after all, this was for their daughter, who needed to know that she still had  _ two  _ parents.

“Victoria,” this was said in a softer tone, and Severus was glad to see that she at least held  _ some  _ love for her child. The memory of their meeting months before hadn’t left him, and he would never forgive her for not fighting for Victoria’s guardianship a little bit harder.

“Mother,” the dark-haired girl said, voice neutral. Severus was  _ so proud  _ of her. “Why don’t you come in?”

Perfect manners, a bland mask in place to hide her feelings; Severus was suddenly reminded that his daughter had been raised in a pureblood household and had probably been coached and taught by a variety of tutors over the years.

Impressed at how  _ proper  _ his cheerful daughter could act, he followed Melody and her as the younger girl led the way to their living room. Tea had already been prepared, along with a small selection of snacks to satisfy their hunger and have something to do with their hands.

“You have a lovely home,” Melody said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled over them as they took their seats.

Victoria and Severus had taken their usual armchairs, which left Melody to sit on the larger couch across from them. Although she hid her anxiousness well, it was impossible to miss completely, especially when she started tapping rhythmically on her teacup.

“Thank you,” Severus answered, tilting his head to the side to accept her compliment. He may not have been raised in the wizarding world, but he had been in it long enough to know how to act around purebloods.

“Do you like it here, Victoria?” she asked, looking at her daughter.

“I do,” the dark-haired girl answered, her face softening as she smiled. “My room is beautiful, and dad even made sure to buy a house with an extra room that could be used as a music parlour, so I’ve been able to play in my free time. And the lab is amazing as well.”

“That sounds nice,” Melody said, smiling stiffly. Severus didn’t know what she had expected; had she thought that Victoria would be unhappy and begging to come back to her? “And what of your year at Hogwarts? Your last letter was quite a while ago…”

“I was busy,” Victoria shrugged, although they all knew that it was a poor excuse. “But it was good. I learned a lot, and my friends are great! Some of the professors are strange, but I don’t mind them too much.”

The conversation continued in a similar pattern, with Melody asking inane questions and Victoria – or occasionally Severus – answering in a calm but overall uninterested manner.

Just when the man thought that Melody would leave and save them all further awkwardness, the woman took a deep breath and started speaking again.

“I’m sorry that you felt as though you had to escape our home, Victoria,” she said softly. “I knew that you weren’t completely happy there, but I thought that you… cared about me enough to stay.”

“Don’t try to make me feel guilty about my decision,” Victoria said sharply before Severus could interrupt. “I  _ do  _ care about you, but that isn’t enough. Even if you hadn’t ignored the way Darius treated me – which you  _ did  _ – you were still too absent to ever take care of me. I love you, of course I do; you raised me even though you didn’t want to, and I know that in a way… In a way, you love me too. But it’s not enough.”

“So you’d rather live with a man who abandoned his family?” she asked, but it was a low blow, and all three of them knew it.

“You never told him about me, mother,” Victoria reminded her. “That’s hardly his fault.”

“But you don’t  _ know  _ him like I do, Victoria,” the woman insisted. “You think you do, but you’ve always trusted too easily.”

“I  _ think _ ,” Victoria said fiercely. “That you should leave. It was a  _ delight  _ to see you, mother, but it’s getting late, and the world isn’t exactly safe right now. You should get home before the sun sets.”

One day, his daughter would be a fierce protector of all that she loved. One day, she would show everyone that just because they had underestimated her, it didn’t mean that she was powerless.

As the dark-eyed girl escorted her mother out of their  _ home _ , Severus thanked Merlin and every deity for having given him a daughter like her. He may not have raised her, but she was everything he could have wished for, and then some. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! And as always, thank you to my (violin expert) beta and sister @fall27 for her help editing this fic. 
> 
> I can now proudly announce that the third fic of this series has been completed! It's my favourite so far, and the next one (which is in the works) is shaping up to be even better! You may have noticed that so far - just like in the original Harry Potter books - things are quite 'slow' in a way; since Voldemort only comes back at the end of the tournament, everything until then is a lead up and an opportunity for me to explore the characters that I've grown to love. 
> 
> I hope that none of you mind reading more about the girls' relationships and personalities, because although they are going to be involved in canon plot - and thoroughly destroy it - the first three fics of the series are more of a build-up towards what I consider to be the main event. That's not to say that I don't think they're necessary, because they are, but hopefully you understand what I mean! 
> 
> Love, Julie
> 
> (catch me on tumblr @hopesilverheart or on twitter @juniesilvrheart)


	3. Summer pt. 3: Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! 
> 
> Here's another chapter for you, hope you like it! It's the last part of the summer holidays, after that we're going into PoA's plot! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy (:

Felicity gaped at the house in front of her. Victoria had told her that it wasn’t quite the dark dungeon that they had imagined but seeing it with her own eyes was something else. It seemed that their professor really  _ wasn’t  _ all that he seemed to be.

“Your friend has a beautiful home,” her father said, impressed. “Nothing like those opulent manors that most purebloods are overly fond of.”

By the time they reached the front door, Felicity had managed to shake off most of the disbelief and was – once again – buzzing with excitement. After over a month spent away from her friends, she would finally be seeing them again.

She wondered if the others had arrived yet, or if she would be first. She wondered if Snape would be different in his own home, or if he would keep up his usual cool and strict demeanour. She wondered if they would be allowed to wander around and visit the area. She wondered about the books she might find. Most of all, she wondered whether or not her friends had missed her as much as she had missed them.

The door burst open and Felicity was immediately assaulted by a dark blur. She laughed as Victoria hugged her tightly, black hair everywhere. The girl had gained another few centimetres, and Felicity almost pouted; it was unfair how tall her friend was.

“It’s so good to see you!” the elder girl smiled, turning towards her father belatedly. “And it’s nice to meet you, Mister Eastchurch. Felicity’s told us all about you, and I’m happy to finally meet the man she holds in such high regards.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Snape,” Felicity’s father said kindly. The brunette beamed at the thought of two of her favourite people in the world getting along. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you from my daughter as well. Is your father around?”

“Yes! He should be…” Victoria started.

“Right here,” Professor Snape interrupted.

Once again, Felicity found herself at a loss for words. Instead of his usual black teaching robes held together by hundreds of buttons, the man was dressed in casual black slacks and a long-sleeved dark blue top. He looked… younger this way, more carefree. Less like a professor and more like her friend’s stern but fair dad.

“Mister Eastchurch, thank you for allowing your daughter to stay here for a few days,” the dark-haired man said with a small smile. “I fear we would have both found ourselves with unhappy daughters if this little get-together hadn’t been possible.”

“That seems quite likely,” Felicity’s father laughed. “Seeing as our daughters are so fond of each other, I really must insist that you call me Clarence.”

“Then call me Severus,” the other man agreed easily. It was such an  _ absurd  _ sight; her father and her professor speaking casually, agreeing to address each other informally. “We attended Hogwarts around the same time, didn’t we?”

“We must have! I was quite possibly a few years ahead of you, but I only graduated in 1975,” her father replied.

Clearly deciding that this discussion wasn’t particularly interesting, Victoria grabbed Felicity’s hand and started dragging her into the house, towards what Felicity assumed was the living area.

When they arrived, she was greeted by the delightful sight of…

“Felicity!”

The two voices cried out at the same time and immediately hurried towards her. Ginny engulfed her into a warm hug, but Astoria stayed back for a few seconds, only stepping closer to her and gently embracing her when the redhead was done enthusiastically welcoming her.

“I’ve missed you so much,” the blond girl said quietly.

“I’m so glad you’re all here!” Victoria chattered happily. “Dad’s been acting as though a group of four twelve-year-olds is the scariest thing he’s ever had to deal with within his own house, but I think he’s just being dramatic. He even told me that we’d be allowed to go to the village! All under aliases, of course, since he’s  _ paranoid _ , but in light of recent events… I kind of get it. How have all your holidays been?”

“Fine, as you very well know,” Ginny rolled her eyes. “I’m  _ extremely  _ happy to be back from Egypt; I’ve decided that the hot weather isn’t for me.”

“I’m glad too,” Felicity admitted. “America was incredible, but I was starting to feel homesick, and I’m thankful that my dad insisted on getting me home for my birthday. I hadn’t realised just  _ how much  _ I had missed my mum.”

“You know how  _ I  _ felt about my holidays,” Astoria grimaced. “If I could skip the trip to France, I would, but needs must. My parents are a bit worried about the Black situation, but clearly not enough to forbid me from coming here.”

“Mine almost cancelled my birthday party,” Ginny said. “But I put a halt to that train of thought  _ very  _ quickly. You’re all invited, of course, and I can promise you that the wards on our house are strong enough to keep away any unwanted criminals.”

“All of us?” Astoria asked, clearly surprised. Felicity had to admit that she hadn’t been sure of the Weasleys’ reaction to their daughter’s choices when in came to friendship. “They know who I am, right?”

“Of course they do!” Ginny grinned. “Look, I was super worried too, but I shouldn’t have been. I talked to my brother, and he told me that my parents wouldn’t care about your parents or politics, and… he was right. I told her that I had befriended mostly traditional girls who came from… not-so-light families, and they told me that as long as I wanted you at the Burrow, you’d be welcome there.”

“That’s awesome,” Victoria beamed right back. “Now come on, enough about crazy people and future parties, let’s go say bye to Felicity’s dad and then head off on some mildly-interesting adventures. I can’t promise you giant snakes, but I  _ can  _ promise you a batty old woman who thinks that my dad is the devil, and a group of teens who believe they’re  _ so cool  _ but are  _ terrified _ of their parents.”

And indeed, there was no magic and no fanfare, but the village that Victoria and her father lived in was quaint, calm, and had a charm to it that Felicity couldn’t quite put her finger on.

They met Mrs. Terry, who kept casting dubious looks towards Victoria but was otherwise a very sweet woman and observed the teens’ frightened faces as their mothers came to collect them. They introduced themselves as ‘ _ Gwen Prewett _ ’ and ‘ _ Daphne Green _ ’ and ‘ _ Joy West _ ’ and laughed at the ridiculous names. They learned that Victoria was  _ very  _ popular in the small community, as most of the women cooed at the polite young girl who had just moved in.

There was a Quidditch pitch in a town nearby, and Victoria’s father – he had asked them to call him Severus, but none of them felt comfortable doing that yet – had apparated them there on the second day of their stay. They had even gotten to fly for a little while. Astoria had decided to sit the whole thing out, but the other three had twirled and raced and at the end of the afternoon, all of them agreed that Ginny was a  _ wonderful  _ flier.

At night, the quartet huddled together in Victoria’s small bedroom and whispered stories about their summers. Sometimes they would stay silent, each one of them reading a book until the conversation picked up again, but they chattered most of the time, to the point where their professor entered the room and told them to go to sleep  _ or else _ .

Victoria had laughed, but the three others had decided that going to bed was a wise idea. Of course, it had only made the black-haired girl laugh harder, since she found their caution around her father  _ hilarious _ .

On the third day, it rained, so the four of them squeezed into the kitchen and proceeded to make an absolute  _ mess  _ of the place as they baked tray after tray of delicious-smelling muffins.

That afternoon, they sat together in the living room playing chess waiting for Victoria’s father to join them. Until then, they hadn’t really seen him outside of meals, so as soon as he entered the room, they stopped speaking, unsure about what they were supposed to do.

Felicity didn’t know how to explain it to Victoria, but every time her father was around, it felt like they should have been brewing or studying or doing something school-related, because the man was their  _ professor _ , and even though they  _ knew  _ that he was on vacation just like the rest of them, it was still  _ weird _ .

“You guys are  _ ridiculous _ ,” Victoria giggled. “Dad, talk to them. Make them realise that you’re not an evil professor who’s going to dock points every time they  _ breathe _ .”

The man raised an eyebrow, and Felicity thought that he looked… amused?

“Very well then, what would help?” he asked, looking at the girls. “Clearly, the colour in my wardrobe isn’t enough, and you’ve seen me in my pyjamas, but that seemed to terrorise you even more. Perhaps some stories from school about your families?”

It… wasn’t a bad idea. And it would make for some  _ epic  _ blackmail material later on. It looked like Astoria and Ginny were thinking something quite similar, as the pair grinned at the idea.

Which is how the four almost-second-years found out about Daphne’s tendency to blush around the professor for no visible reason – Victoria looked  _ horrified _ – and about the twins’ epic prank during their first-year which had gotten them banned from every room in the dungeons except for the Potions classroom. The professor even had stories about Felicity’s cousins – she couldn’t  _ wait  _ to tell them that she knew about their little incident in their fourth year – and the elder Weasley siblings.

It was a wonderful afternoon, and by the end of it, all three girls tentatively thanked  _ Severus  _ for making them feel a bit more comfortable in his home and for giving them ammunition against a few of their relatives.

Victoria was grinning happily, and her father’s gaze softened, telling them that it was completely normal.

‘ _ After all, you take such good care of my troublesome daughter. The least I can do is try my best to make you feel welcome in our home _ .’ 

* * *

It had been two weeks since the girls had met up at Victoria’s house, and Ginny was flittering around the Burrow, trying and failing to make the house seem a bit more proper than it currently was.

She was proud of her house, she really was, and she knew that its strongest attribute was how homey it looked; the clutter and the unevenness and the bright, mismatched colours were all part of its charm, but still… She had only visited one of her friends’ houses, but she knew that all of their parents were well-off – hers weren’t exactly  _ poor _ , but they had seven children to look after. She didn’t want them to look at her house and think of it as being… Less than theirs, just because it wasn’t pristine and neat and huge.

Thinking about the Snapes’ cottage, she knew that she was being irrational, but she needed to keep busy, and her magic had been acting all fuzzy and confused ever since her surge in power the day before.

“I think you’ve cleaned the table three times in the last hour,” her father teased her from his spot at said table. “I know that you want everything to be perfect, Ginny, but perhaps you should go get dressed first?”

Gasping, the redheaded girl looked down at herself and cursed – silently – when she noticed that her father was serious. In her frenzy, she had somehow forgotten to put on clothes that morning and had been waltzing around in her pyjamas for the last couple of hours. It was almost noon, and her friends would be arriving for lunch, so she had to be  _ fast  _ if she wanted to be ready on time.

Ten minutes, three outfits, and one last table-wiping later, someone knocked on the front door, and Ginny rushed away to greet her first guest.

Soon enough, the Burrow was bustling with life, just like it was supposed to be, and Ginny was surrounded by all of her closest friends. There was Victoria, Felicity, and Astoria, obviously, but along with them, she had invited Luna, Poppy, Rory, Scarlett, and a few of her Gryffindor dormmates.

Her best friends were chatting with her mother, Luna was off somewhere – as always, Ginny didn’t question it – and the others were mingling happily. Rory whined about being the only boy, and Scarlett whispered something in his ear which made him grin – and made Ginny worry, a lot.

Lunch was a busy affair, which delighted her mother, and by the end of the meal, her parents had managed to convince everyone to call them by their first names. Her brothers were a little bit surprised at the sudden invasion – maybe they hadn’t expected her to have so many friends – but mostly kept away from them.

(When two explosions happened simultaneously upstairs, Ginny let her mother blame them on the twins and wisely didn’t point out Scarlett and Rory’s absence.)

They ran around, ate cake and sweets and biscuits until they were bursting, congratulated her on her birthday and drowned her in thoughtful presents. There were books and Quidditch paraphernalia, clothes and sweets and other amazing things. By the end of the day, Ginny felt loved and happy and thought that she had never had a birthday quite as magical as this one.

And then it was only her family and her three closest friends.

“I hear that they have something called rubber ducks,” her father was saying. Ginny and her brothers withheld a groan, deciding to focus on their plates of potatoes and peas instead. “Truly fascinating, what the muggles come up with these days.”

“Ah, yes,” Felicity said awkwardly. “Rubber ducks aren’t really… I mean, they’re just toys for children. I guess they  _ are  _ a bit weird, though.”

Victoria was muffling her laughter, and even Astoria had a smile on her lips at the bizarre conversation.

“Arthur, dear, you mustn’t bore the girls with your muggle obsession,” her mother said, saving the day – as she often did. “I’m sure the ladies would rather be talking about something else. How did you all do on your end of year tests, for example?”

Ron and the twins muttered that  _ exams  _ weren’t any more appropriate than muggle ducks at the dinner table, but refrained from actually speaking up, as they knew that they would get an earful from their mother about  _ their  _ grades – the twins had done decently, but Molly Weasley’s standards were high, especially since she thought that all of them could achieve anything if they put their minds to it.

“Quite well,” Victoria answered neutrally. “I’m not quite as good at History and Transfiguration as I am at the rest, but my father was proud of me nonetheless.”

“She scored the highest in both Potions  _ and  _ Defence,” Ginny added proudly. “Felicity was first in Charms, and Astoria was first in Transfiguration.”

“But my Potions grade was far from perfect,” Felicity pointed out, blushing fiercely. Ginny grinned at her friend’s unusual lack of decorum.

“And let’s not even talk about how my Herbology exams went,” Astoria winced. “I think Professor Sprout has rather given up on Ginny and me, even though we try our best. There are just  _ too many  _ plants in the world.”

“Oh, but still!” Ginny’s mother said cheerfully. “Those are some great achievements! And I noticed that you get along with students from every house, which is really quite the feat! I don’t think I’ve ever had so many non-Gryffindor students in the house at once.”

“I can’t believe my own sister invited  _ snakes  _ into our home,” Ron mumbled, stabbing at a pea with more force than necessary and finding himself glared at by four witches. Clearly, Ginny’s brother still needed a few lessons in keeping his mouth  _ shut  _ when no one wanted to hear his opinion.

“Really, Ronald!” their mother exclaimed. “There’s nothing wrong with Slytherins! I won’t be hearing any of that from you, do you understand? All of Ginny’s friends are welcome here, whether they’re a Gryffindor, a Slytherin, or even a Muggle!”

The boy turned bright red all the way to his ears, and Ginny couldn’t contain her giggles. Her brother was so  _ unimpressive  _ when he got angry. He really needed to learn how to keep his temper in, if only to avoid looking like a tomato.

Thankfully, Ron simply huffed at them and left the table as soon as he was done with his dessert. Their parents made excuses for him, but Ginny’s friends assured them that it was fine and that they understood that boys sometimes took a bit longer to mature than girls did, and that they weren’t going to blame the whole family for their youngest son’s actions.

“Ron’s got nothing on some of the scarier Slytherins,” Astoria said seriously, and everyone laughed, although the three other girls knew that there was some truth to that statement – none of them had forgotten the confrontation between Malfoy and the first-years.

“And I live with the scariest professor at Hogwarts,” Victoria reminded them. “The girls could barely  _ look  _ at him without shaking in their boots when they came over. I think we’re all immune to pretty much  _ everything _ by now.”

“Oh, well, good then, I’m glad to hear that,” the redheaded woman said, clearly relieved. “I’ll leave you to it, then! We’ve cleared out Charlie’s room for the four of you, since it’s a little bit bigger than Ginny’s. Feel free to come to us if you need anything, okay?”

A chorus of ‘ _ Yes, Molly _ ’ later, the girls were finally left alone. They pushed mattresses, pillows and quilts together, and decided that sleeping in a heap wasn’t a problem at all.

“So, how did it feel?” Victoria asked when they were all laying down. “You’re the last one of us to turn twelve, after all.”

“It was great,” Ginny murmured.

She had woken up feeling more energized than she ever had before, and it had taken her a moment to remember that it was her birthday. Her magic had hummed happily all day, although sometimes it turned so hot that Ginny thought that it would burn through her skin.

“It felt like fire,” she added. “Like my blood was made of lava and my magic would turn everything to ash if I commanded it to.”

“I wonder if the surges in magic are linked to the elements in everyone’s case,” Felicity pondered out loud. “Victoria’s was like ice, Astoria’s was like the wind, and mine felt like a storm. There has to be a reason, right?”

As one, the three younger witches turned towards Victoria, who always seemed to have the answers when it came to Magic. The eldest girl sighed but smiled at them indulgently.

“There is,” she explained calmly. “Every time our magic strengthens, so does our link to nature itself. But on our twelfth birthday, that connection feels  _ tangible  _ for the first time, so we feel the surge like a sudden rush of elemental magic. The type of element depends on our feelings and the weather and the conditions of our birth and just a whole lot of factors, but you’ll feel close to a specific element for the entirety of your birthday, and maybe even a bit longer than that.”

She let them take all of that in – Ginny thought about the sparks still flying up and down her body – before continuing her tale.

“Nobody’s really sure about the significance of the number 12, but some theorize that it’s because there are twelve months in a year, which means that we’ve gone full circle. After our first surge at 4 – that most people don’t remember – and our two subsequent ones at 7 and 8 – that you might remember, but only as a vague feeling of warmth – the surge we have at 12 is the last one we have before we turn 17. In between those two important birthdays, our connection with nature will grow slowly – so slowly that you won’t even notice it – until it becomes whole on the day of our magical maturity. That’s the day when our Magic reaches its full potential and can finalise its bond with the world around us.”

Her voice was soothing, and Ginny found herself slowly drifting asleep, telling herself that her friend was the  _ best  _ at telling stories. 

* * *

When she had been young, Astoria had loved hearing all about Diagon Alley. Her parents had told her siblings and her that it was one of the most magical places in the world – almost as potent as Hogwarts – and that there was never a day when the street was lifeless.

Astoria, however, had always disliked crowded places, and although she  _ did  _ think that the Alley was a wonderful place, she also couldn’t stand it for very long. She just couldn’t deal with that many people pressed together, especially not when they were pressed against  _ her _ .

So even though her friends looked heartbroken at the sight of a rather empty Alley, she couldn’t help but be slightly reassured. Of course, it was depressing to think that an escaped convict had managed to reduce their magical district to  _ this _ , but for once in her life, Astoria could walk down the street without feeling as though she was suffocating.

Somehow, the quartet had managed to convince all of their parents to let them get their supplies together. It was partly thanks to their pleading eyes, but mostly thanks to their professor, who had volunteered to chaperone them. All of their parents had felt a lot more comfortable about letting them out of their sight when they had known that there would be a responsible and powerful adult with them.

“This is weird,” Victoria said softly, as though the absence of sound meant that they, too, had to be quiet.

“It is a rather… disturbing sight,” the professor –  _ Severus  _ – admitted. “But you shouldn’t let it ruin your day. Wizarding folks tend to scare easily, and they forget that there is a strength in numbers. A single mad man would not stand a chance against a large group of people, no matter  _ how  _ insane or powerful he is. And believe me when I say that I can deal with Black if he decides to show up here, okay?”

The girls nodded, but the mood was still decidedly solemn as they made their way to the bank to retrieve some money. Ginny’s parents had given her some money already, but Felicity and Astoria had been asked to manage their own budget. It was both a great opportunity and a test that their parents had organised to see if they could be reasonable.

Astoria thought it was ridiculous; if she wanted to take out a little bit more money than necessary in order to buy some extracurricular books, was there really any harm done? However, she would settle for the bare minimum – and maybe a tiny bit more, because the three oldest girls had silently agreed to help Ginny out with her supplies.

“Did your parents do the same thing with Daphne?” Victoria asked as they left the goblin-made building and headed towards the stationary shop for new quills and heaps of parchment. “This trial of money thing?”

“Probably,” Astoria answered, although she had never really payed attention to her sister’s trips to Diagon Alley, especially not the year before, when she had been excitedly waiting to buy her very first wand. “It might have happened a few years ago, though, since the expectations for her are higher, as heiress. I’m glad I won’t have to deal with any of that.”

“So am I,” Ginny agreed quickly. The two girls grinned at each other as Victoria and Felicity grumbled about the unfairness of it all.

The professor rolled his eyes at their antics, which made Astoria laugh harder, so hard that she was in stitches until they moved onto the bookshop. She wasn’t sure what had brought on the sudden bout of hysteria, but she thought that laughing was always better than crying, so she wasn’t going to dwell on it for too long.

The four girls spent more money in the bookshop than they had anywhere else, placing piles of books into featherlight bags and grinning at their findings, before buying the bare essentials at the apothecary – Molly and the professor would be providing them with most of the ingredients they needed, and they still had all of their equipment from the previous year.

“That’s everything, right?” Ginny asked as they left the shop.

The three other girls looked at each other giddily and shook their heads, dragging their friend off towards one last shop. When they stopped in front of the pet store, the redhead shot them an incredulous look.

“What are we doing here?” she asked confusedly. “Who’s getting a pet?”

“Well… you are, actually!” Victoria exclaimed cheerfully. “We all saved up money, and you can count this as a second birthday present from all of us, as well as our parents! We know that you don’t want to inherit your brother’s rat, and the owl belongs to all of your family, so… Surprise!”

There were tears in Ginny’s eyes, but Astoria was glad to notice that she didn’t protest and didn’t try to stop them as they pulled her into the shop. Immediately, a clerk rushed to meet them, only to walk away dejectedly when they announced that they were going to look around for a little bit and that they didn’t need his help.

“So, what are we getting you?” Felicity started, gazing curiously at a group of tiny kittens. “A toad, maybe?”

“Ha, ha, very funny,” Ginny answered, sticking her tongue out. “I don’t want a rat or a spider or a toad or an owl, which leaves a cat, I guess.”

Astoria thought that her choice made sense, and secretly hoped that the girl would choose a kitten so that they could all watch the little ball of fur grow up as they did. And really, was there anything cuter than a tiny little cat with glowing eyes?

To her delight, the redhead skipped right over the older cats and moved to stand next to Felicity and the pile of multicoloured fur. There were kittens of every colour, all meowing and blinking at them innocently. Astoria had to tell herself repeatedly that they were here for  _ Ginny _ , not for her, and that she would get herself a pet later on, when her parents decided that she was ready.

Truly, she didn’t  _ need  _ an adorable kitten with pretty hazel eyes and patched fur. She  _ didn’t _ .

“What about this one?”

They all followed Ginny’s finger and melted when they spotted the ginger cat – almost the exact shade of their friend’s hair – with beautiful blue eyes. There was no question that this was the cat they would be getting, price be damned.

And so, a few minutes, a pile of galleons, and several scratches later, four girls and their exasperated professor walked out of the shop, finally ready to head back to Hogwarts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! And thank you to my beta and sister @fall27 for helping me edit this chapter! Tune in every week on Saturdays for a new chapter. The fic will pick up with the plot but in the meantime I hope you're enjoying just getting to know the girls and their families some more! I'm taking a break from writing this series but I've got this entire fic and the next one finished so no worries about the update schedule. 
> 
> Love, Julie. 
> 
> (catch me on tumblr @hopesilverheart or twitter @juniesilvrheart)


	4. Meeting the dementors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! 
> 
> First chapter of the school year for the girls, so we're getting some actual plot in this one, as well as finding out more about some of our favourite characters. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

After two months of holidays, Victoria couldn’t have been happier to see the blazing red Hogwarts Express in front of her. She had spent the last week of August with Felicity’s family, as her father had to head back to school early, and the two girls had woken up earlier than ever, too excited to sleep any longer.

For all that she had loved having endless time on her hands and getting to know her father, Victoria had been dreaming about Hogwarts for days now, overjoyed at the thought of going back to the castle she adored.

“All right girls, this is where I leave you,” Felicity’s father told them. “Don’t eat too much before the feast, and please stay safe this year. I’m expecting to hear from you soon, Felicity. And Victoria, you’ll always be welcome back in our home if your father is otherwise occupied.”

“Thank you, Clarence,” the black-haired girl grinned. The man and his wife had been amazing hosts and had taught her tons of things about the Muggle world that she hadn’t even  _ imagined _ . “And thank you for having me in the first place! I’m sure that my dad will be sending you a gift for your time and kindness, so I’ll try to attach a letter with it, if only to keep in touch.”

The man smiled at her softly and ushered them onto the train, hugging his daughter before apparating away. Beaming at each other, the two girls rushed inside and looked through compartments, hoping to find their friends – or at least Astoria, since Ginny would undoubtedly arrive at 10:59, and not a second before that.

When it became clear that Astoria hadn’t made it to the station yet, the pair of second-years shrugged and found a spot in an empty compartment. Thirty minutes later, they had been joined by their other two best friends, as well as a few of their yearmates, and the lot of them were talking happily as the train departed.

“Do you think Lockhart will still be our Defence professor?” Poppy – one of Victoria’s housemates – asked, scrunching her nose up in mild disgust.

“I have it on good authority that he won’t,” Victoria said mysteriously, relishing in the eager looks her friends sent her way. It  _ was  _ quite nice to be in the centre of attention from time to time, especially when she was surrounded by people she liked.

“Did your father tell you  _ who  _ would be teaching us?” Astoria inquired, eyes keen and curious. “Daphne told me that their first-year professor was almost as incompetent as Lockhart, so I wonder if the headmaster  _ finally  _ found someone with a decent set of skills and at least  _ some  _ common sense.”

Frowning slightly, Victoria thought about the best way to answer that question. Her father’s intense dislike of Remus Lupin indicated that the Slytherins might not have the best time in his class, but… The man was a werewolf, so he was bound to be knowledgeable when it came to dark creatures – which was what the younger years focused on.

However,  _ the man was a werewolf _ , so Victoria couldn’t help but be a little bit wary. Her dad had acted like he hated the new professor, yes, but the young girl had also seen quite a good amount of fear in his gaze after the headmaster’s announcement, so it was possible that Lupin had already lost control in the past.

She didn’t want to judge the man too early, but she also didn’t want to be overly enthusiastic and end up disappointing all of her friends.

“I know who it is,” she settled on saying. “But I don’t think I’m supposed to tell anyone, and I’m not sure about his competence. My dad doesn’t like him much, but he doesn’t really like  _ anyone _ , so it’s not exactly unusual.”

“Damn,” Scarlett muttered. “That means the man’s probably not a Slytherin. And here I was hoping that we’d finally get more than two staff members from our house.”

“For the Defence post?” Felicity scoffed. “Unlikely. Dumbledore, no matter how powerful he might be, is also more than slightly prejudiced against the cunning and ambitious. Remember what the second-years told us last year? He snatched the House Cup from right under Slytherin’s nose during Potter’s first year.”

“The  _ third-years _ , Felicity,” Victoria corrected her teasingly. “But yeah… The headmaster seems to like my dad, but that’s the exception rather than the rule, and even then, I don’t think he fully trusts him.”

“Well, prejudice or not, do we all still agree about the plan for the first-years?” Ginny asked, looking up from her lap but continuing to stroke the sleeping kitten that had taken its residence there. “It’s bound to be harder for the Slytherins than for the rest of us…”

“Don’t worry about us,” Nerissa said, green eyes full of determination. “We’ll manage just fine. Malfoy calmed down at the end of the year, and if he tries anything on us or the younger snakelets, we’ll put him in his place. Those kids won’t go back to being the outcasts of the school, not if we can help it.”

“The professors are going to have an aneurysm when they realise that we’re slowly destroying the house rivalries,” Victoria chuckled. “I think my father suspects something, but he won’t try to stop us, especially since the show of unity helps the Slytherin students more than anyone else.”

“Yeah, except in their own house,” Ginny pointed out, eyebrows furrowed. “Most of the upper-years in Gryffindor leave us alone, but even they got frustrated when they realised that students from other houses had snuck into the common room  _ again _ .”

“But if we keep this up,” Astoria reminded her. “Then eventually,  _ we’ll  _ be the majority. Someday, there’ll be more students who mingle with the other houses than students who don’t, and it’ll become the norm. The good professors won’t mind, because it should make life a whole lot easier for them, and the house system will still work, but at least the students won’t be trying to  _ murder  _ each other.”

“It’ll all work out,” Victoria said decisively. “And in the meantime, we badgers are going to  _ love  _ beating all of you for the cup this year. It’s been too long since the hall was decorated in yellow and black, according to the older students, and it’s high time for us to claim that title.”

“Ha, as if!” Ginny exclaimed. “Gryffindor’s sure to win all of its Quidditch matches again this year, and with those extra points, we’ll steal that Cup right back from Ravenclaw!”

“Ooh, are you joining the team then?” Scarlett asked excitedly. “I saw you fly last year, and you looked  _ amazing  _ up there! I’m thinking of trying out for Seeker myself, but with you against us, I doubt that even catching the snitch would be enough to beat your team. And on top of that, Potter  _ is  _ a great player.”

They argued after that, debating on the strengths and weaknesses of Gryffindor’s seeker, and agreeing that Hufflepuff’s team was  _ extremely  _ lacklustre. It was so bad that Victoria was even considering trying out herself. At least  _ she  _ knew how to fly, unlike that poor Keeper who’d been playing for two years already.

Squabbling about the House Cup filled Victoria’s heart with glee, because their year had achieved something that everyone else seemed to have forgotten about. They had taken the system in place and twisted it back to what it was meant to be: a friendly rivalry between students, made to spark their competitive natures without causing unnecessary tensions within the school.

She wondered how Hogwarts had become what it was; when had the students started caring so much about their houses that they had forgotten that at the end of the day, they were all in the same boat? What did it matter whether they had more courage or more ambition?

It made her think about her father and the way Gryffindor students seemed to either hate him or be  _ terrified _ of him. She had learned that the man had been a lot harsher with them before she had arrived, and that even to this day, he treated the lions with slightly more vitriol than he did the rest of the student body. What had he gone through that had made him dislike the red and gold students so much?

She frowned at her maudlin thoughts, wondering how she had strayed so far from her content mood.

“Guys,” Astoria whispered. “I think something’s wrong.”

“Agreed,” Victoria said just as quietly. “It shouldn’t be this dark already, should it? And why is it so cold? And have we stopped  _ moving _ ?”

Just then, something rattled their door violently, making the small group jump away from it before pulling out their wands hastily. The huge dark shadow left little doubt as to the identity of their intruder.

“What’s a  _ dementor  _ doing on the train?” Ginny asked, looking as panicked as everyone else. “Dad said they would be at school, not that they’d be  _ attacking us  _ before we even got there!”

The rattling resumed, and Victoria took that time to cast the strongest locking charm she knew – it was only enough to keep the creature out for a few minutes, but hopefully it would be gone by then.

The second-years waited, breathing heavily and huddling as close to each other as possible to share what little warmth remained, and when the darkness receded along with the icy feeling, they all slumped down in relief.

“So you’re telling me those  _ things  _ are going to be staying at Hogwarts all year long?” Nerissa – the only muggleborn of the group – asked shakily. “ _ Why?  _ Who decided that this was a good idea?”

“They are,” Felicity confirmed. “And you can thank our esteemed Minister for that particularly bright decision. He believes that Black will be going for Potter, which isn’t completely absurd, but for some reason, he thinks that a bunch of uncontrollable, dark creatures are better for the job than his own Auror force.”

“And  _ Black’s  _ the insane one?” Nerissa scoffed. “Aren’t those things dangerous to keep around students?”

“They are,” Victoria replied. “Dementors are some of the darkest creatures out there. Unlike some non-human magical beings, they don’t have souls, which means they have no conscience or morals. They feed on stolen memories and humanity that they gather by slowly sucking out a person’s very core. They’re ruthless and impossible to kill, which means the most we can do is repel them. We’re going to have to be  _ extremely  _ careful this year, especially those of us who haven’t always had the best lives; dementors prefer people whose memories have been tainted by death and abuse and sorrow.”

“That’s  _ awful _ ,” Poppy murmured. “And all the more reason to stick together, right?”

Before any of them could answer, a terrified scream cut through their conversation, making all of them freeze in horror.

The dementor had found someone.

* * *

A rough-looking adult had stopped by their compartment a little bit later, just as they were reaching Hogwarts, and had offered them some chocolate, which they had all gladly accepted. He had also assured them that although the dementor had reached a student, the boy in question was doing just fine.

Still reeling from the feeling of dread that had turned her blood to ice, Astoria froze when she came face to face with a giant skeletal horse. Her stomach turned and she had to stop herself from throwing up.

_ They’re just thestrals,  _ she told herself.  _ Harmless horses. _

She wondered if any of her friends could see them too, but a quick glance in their direction showed that they were already climbing into a carriage, unconcerned. Astoria didn’t know whether she should be relieved that none of them had seen death, or bitter that she was the only one who had to deal with that horrifying sight.

“They won’t hurt you, you know,” an airy voice told her. Looking at Luna Lovegood, Astoria tilted her head to the side questioningly. “They’re just a little bit misunderstood. Wouldn’t you be, if the only people who could see you stared at you with fear in their eyes?”

Deciding that she would think about that statement later on – when she wasn’t a metre away from the creatures they were talking about, perhaps – she joined her friends and waved away their concern. They probably had an inkling about what had held her back, but they were polite enough to leave her be.

Looking towards Hogwarts, Astoria couldn’t help but wonder who Luna had lost; whose shadow lingered in her mind when the dementors got close?

“Astoria,” Victoria shook her gently. “We’re here.”

The blond girl blinked at her friend; had she really been lost in her own mind for that long? How much time had passed since she had climbed into the carriage? And why did her skin still feel freezing? The dementors were gone, weren’t they?

_ A blond boy, hair matted with blood, turquoise eyes dull and lifeless, so far from what they usually were. A blond boy, gone, asleep,  _ dead.

“Astoria, take this,” Ginny was the one speaking this time.

Mindlessly, Astoria accepted the chocolate that was shoved into her hand and munched on it slowly until her thoughts cleared up and no longer felt like they were drowning her. They had made it to the school’s entrance, and her friends were all looking at her worriedly – although Victoria didn’t look much better than she felt.

“There were dementors around,” Felicity explained. “Victoria and you kind of disappeared into your own mind for a little bit, but that man from earlier came back and distributed some more chocolate. Do you want me to sit with you during the feast?”

Astoria shook her head, gesturing towards Victoria instead. She would be fine with her sister, she knew, but wasn’t quite sure about their older friend.

“Right, dinner with the Hufflepuffs, then,” Felicity smiled. “Daphne’s already inside, if you want to go find her.”

And she did. She loved her friends, but this was one of the only things that her sister would understand better. Maybe, if she told them about… But no, she would go to Daphne and hope that she never came across a dementor again.

Scarlett and Nerissa stayed close to her as the second-year Slytherins headed towards their table. They had moved up slightly compared to the year before, and Astoria knew that it was a simple matter of hierarchy. The first-years were ‘inferior’, which meant that they got the dubious privilege of sitting closest to the Head Table.

“Astoria,” her sister greeted her, eyebrows furrowed and sapphire eyes full of concern. “I heard that the dementor got close to your compartment.”

Mutely, the younger Greengrass nodded, slipping onto the bench as close to Daphne as she could get. Across from her, Theo’s lips were pinched together worriedly. Outside of her family, the sandy-haired boy was the only other person who could understand what she was thinking about.

“I’m fine,” she murmured after a few more seconds of silence. “I’ll just do my best to stay far away from those things, and so should you two.”

“Astoria…”

“I’m  _ fine _ , Daphne,” she insisted. Just because her sister knew what was going through her mind didn’t mean that Astoria wanted to  _ talk  _ about it. Some things were best kept hidden in the depths of her own soul.

“If you need to contact Healer Eleanor…” her sister said quietly but stopped when Astoria glared at her. “Look, I know that you don’t think you need to speak about this with anyone, but we both know that this is more than just a reminder that’ll go away tomorrow. If the dementors made you see what I think they did, then this could bring you right back to the beginning, and I don’t want to watch you suffer, Astoria. If you don’t go to Madam Pomphrey tonight, I’ll drag you there myself.”

The older girl was right, of course, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept. Astoria hadn’t needed to see Eleanor at all during the summer, and this… This felt like taking five steps backwards.

The dementors had obviously brought forth the worst memory they could find, and as that event was what had first triggered her anxiety, well… The results were unlikely to be pretty. Nodding minutely to satisfy her sister, Astoria reinforced her weak Occlumency barriers and tried to focus on the sorting instead.

She clapped for the new Slytherins and welcomed them with a small smile, but until she could sort through her memories, she would have to count on her yearmates to enforce the plan.

The new professor was introduced, but Astoria barely caught his name. The only thing she managed to realise was that it was the man they had seen on the train and who had given her chocolate.

She made it through the feast thanks to sheer will only and had to grit her teeth when the hall burst into song. Her mind was louder than usual, and the outside noise wasn’t helping, and suddenly Astoria thought that if she waited a second more, she would stop breathing. As soon as the headmaster told them that they could leave, she jumped up and rushed out of the room.

She let her feet take her wherever they wished; aware that she was getting further and further away from the infirmary as she advanced. Instead, she found herself in front of a very familiar door. She knocked gingerly, wondering if she should have just gone to Madam Pomphrey.

“Come in!”

Professor Snape’s voice was harsh and tired, as though the last thing he needed was a student invading his office on their first night back. However, the man had always been fair to her, and she had seen the kinder side of him during the holidays, so she hoped that he would not send her away.

Gathering up all the courage that she could muster, she stepped into the dark room and closed the door behind her, only looking at her Head of House once she was standing right in front of his desk.

“Miss Greengrass are you alright?” the Potions master asked; his tone was concerned, which did wonders for Astoria’s nerves.

Shaking her head slowly, she breathed in deeply and took a seat in the comfortable chair reserved for the professor’s Slytherin students.

“You might have heard that there was a dementor on the train, sir,” she said softly. “It found its way to our compartment, and although Victoria kept it out with a well-timed locking charm, its effects were still undeniable. Then we crossed some more on our way to school, which just… didn’t help.”

“I see,” the man frowned. “Is there anything I can do for you, then?”

“Daphne thinks that I need to speak about what I remembered,” she murmured. “She suggested that I contact Healer Eleanor, or that I go to Madam Pomphrey, but… I was hoping that maybe you could… Maybe you could listen?”

The man’s features were gentle as he nodded, clearly indicating that he would hear whatever she had to say. She took another deep breath, closing her eyes and trying to chase away the image of  _ blond hair, blood, lifeless eyes, crushed, dead, gone _ .

“Sir, what do you…” she started, her voice hitching. “What do you know about my brother?”

“Thomas?” the man inquired. “Or…”

“Alexander, yes,” Astoria whispered, rubbing at her eyes to get rid of the tears that had welled up there. “He… Well, you must know.”

“His passing was most unfortunate,” the professor said firmly, and Astoria didn’t think that she was imaging the tightness in his voice. “He was quite an extraordinary student, and I am… honoured to have known him.”

“I was there,” the blond girl explained. “When the werewolf attacked, I was with him. He jumped in front of me to protect me, and before I knew it… There was so much blood… My parents arrived twenty seconds too late. They were able to save me, but Alexander…”

The man didn’t say anything, but in the end, it was the compassion in his eyes that broke her. She started sobbing in earnest, hating that the dementors had brought up the  _ one  _ event that she had always kept hidden behind her barriers, hating that she was weak, hating that she was still mourning a boy who had been gone for over five years, hating that Alexander was  _ dead  _ and that she would  _ never  _ get him back.

* * *

“Alex, is that right?” Ginny asked a small first-year Gryffindor with long auburn hair and beautiful silver eyes.

The girl nodded shyly, her gaze trying to take in all of the common room at once. Ginny couldn’t believe that she had been in her place a year ago; had they really been that small and awed?

“It’s nice to meet you, Alex,” she smiled warmly. “I’m Ginny Weasley. So, I know that you’re probably tired and that you’ll want to speak with your yearmates as soon as possible, or maybe just fall onto your bed and sleep for hours on end, but I thought I could go over a few things with you, if you don’t mind.”

The younger Gryffindor nodded again, staring at Ginny with wide, impressed eyes.

“I know that the prefects probably told you that you could go to them if you ever had any questions, but honestly? The upper-years are always ridiculously busy,” she explained. “So, all of us second-years have decided that we would do our best to make you feel welcome here by talking to you one on one. The truth is that in all of your time at Hogwarts, the only people who will always be there are the students in your year. We can help you and guide you, but we’ve already got a good group of friends, as do most students, do you understand?”

Another nod. Was she really  _ that  _ intimidating?

“I don’t know if you’ve heard about the rivalry between the different houses, but I’m going to let you in on a secret,” Ginny said, leaning in closer to the girl to impart her ‘wisdom’. “In the long term, your house doesn’t matter. The more open you are, the more friends you’ll find. So, don’t let yourself be blinded by the colour of your robes, okay? I have friends in every house, and I can promise you that reaching out is worth the risk, no matter what the older students say.”

“So you’re saying that I can stay friends with the people I know even if they’re not in Gryffindor?” Alex –  _ finally  _ – spoke up. Her eyes were gleaming hopefully, and Ginny couldn’t help but wonder if the girl had honestly considered staying away from her childhood friends because of the ridiculous notion that ‘your house is your family’.

“Of course you can,” Ginny beamed. “And if you’re as clever as my friends and I were last year, you’ll even find a way to have epic sleepovers in each other’s dorms.”

“No  _ way _ ,” the auburn-haired girl gaped. “That’s so cool. I bet Ravenclaw tower is super pretty, too!”

“It definitely is,” Ginny nodded. “All of the common rooms are quite beautiful, really. The Slytherin one is underground, so they can see into the lake, and the Hufflepuffs have a  _ lot  _ more space in their dorms than most of us do, which makes them the absolute  _ best  _ for big groups of people to gather in.”

Ten minutes later, the redhead was watching the younger girl skip towards the dorms to meet her yearmates and undoubtedly talk about what they had all been told. She only hoped that they listened to their advice and looked beyond their own house.

“They’re so damned cute,” Felicity said, walking up to Ginny with an amused smile. “I can’t believe that we looked like that last year.”

“Neither can I,” Ginny admitted with a huff. “How are Victoria and the first-year Hufflepuffs? And how on  _ earth  _ did you manage to get the password; you were with the badgers this whole time.”

“I have some  _ amazing  _ contacts, Gin,” the girl grinned, before sobering up slightly. “The first-years are fine, all a bit amazed and confused, but I think they’ll listen to us and make friends in every house. Seeing us all together should definitely help; after all, there’s nothing better than leading by example. And as planned, we baited them with the idea of visiting the other common rooms. Victoria… I’m not sure.”

“For a Hufflepuff, she can be awfully secretive, can’t she?” Ginny smiled humourlessly. “I can’t imagine that the dementors went easy on her. She looked fine on the train, but the ones we saw later really bothered her, I think.”

“She told me that she’d go see her father if things got bad, and I’m inclined to believe her,” Felicity told her. “The two of them got a lot closer this summer, and he would probably understand her memories a lot better than we would. After all, both of us got very lucky family-wise. However, I’m mostly worried about Astoria.”

“She looked like she had seen a ghost,” Ginny agreed, thinking about how pale their friend had looked.

Astoria was never one to talk much, preferring to listen and smile silently, but… She hadn’t spoken at all after their encounter with the dementor on the train, and Ginny knew that she wasn’t the only one who had noticed how the girl had lingered outside of their carriage. If the blond girl had seen death, then it wasn’t hard to understand why dementors might affect her more than the average person.

“Why didn’t you go to the dungeons after finishing up with the Hufflepuffs?” the redhead wondered out loud.

“She wasn’t there,” Felicity explained. “Her sister was, though, and she said that Astoria just needed time. I’m not sure how welcome my presence would have been, so I decided to come here instead. It’s warmer, and I wanted to see how it had gone with the little ones.”

“Makes sense,” Ginny hummed. “How was the atmosphere in Slytherin, then? Did it look like they were handling the first-years well?”

“They were doing perfectly fine,” Felicity chuckled. “The snakelets couldn’t believe that a bunch of older students were going out of their way to make them feel welcome, and although they’re quite a cautious lot, I think they’ll be fine.”

“And the new professor? Have you heard about him before? I feel like his name sounds familiar, but I can’t remember where I might have heard it…” the Gryffindor said thoughtfully.

Remus Lupin had a kind smile, tired eyes, and a moustache that hid most of his face, and although Ginny had never met him before, she knew that someone had already told her about him.

“Complete mystery to me,” Felicity admitted. “He seems fine, but we’ll have to see. I doubt that he’ll be worse than Lockhart.”

“Of course he won’t be,” Ginny scoffed. “But the bar is  _ very  _ low.”

Felicity laughed and for a moment, Ginny let herself forget about the dark shadows and the doubt in her brunette friend’s eyes. She forced a smile, thought about the new students, and did  _ not  _ think about a handsome boy with a smile that could cut diamonds and a voice that haunted her dreams.

_ Don’t you miss me, little girl? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! And thank you to my lovely beta and sister @fall27 for helping me edit this chapter. I know this is a day late but I got caught up in stuff yesterday and didn't have the time to post it. We'll be back on my normal schedule next Saturday! 
> 
> Love, Julie.
> 
> (find me on tumblr @hopesilverheart)


	5. Facing Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Only two points of view in this chapter, although you'll get the other two girls in the next one! I'm trying not to stray towards Remus-bashing, but he's not exactly the best character in this fic. I wouldn't call him evil or bad, but be warned he isn't close to the girls like Harry was.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Victoria woke up feeling groggy and barely rested. She had been plagued by nightmares all through the night and had hardly managed to get any sleep, and the thought of going to class was utterly unappealing.

She could hear her dormmates slowly stirring and could soon see them padding through their room half-awake and bleary-eyed. A single worried look from Poppy was enough to make the dark-haired girl stand up; she didn’t want to cause her friends any undue concern.

No matter how well they had slept, none of the second-years were truly conscious when they entered the Great Hall – except perhaps Rory, who was always irritatingly cheerful in the mornings. They had all gotten used to sleeping in, and the early hour was hard on all of them.

Therefore, when Professor Sprout handed them their timetables, the entire year groaned at the thought of a Defence class less than an hour later.

“At least if we had History, we’d be able to sleep through it,” Poppy whined. “But  _ no _ , of course not, instead we have to meet our new professor and prove that just because we’re Hufflepuffs doesn’t mean we’re worth less, and  _ ugh _ , I don’t want to deal with this.”

“At least we don’t have Potions,” Victoria pointed out, before her eyes settled on their Monday classes. “Oh my god, what  _ is  _ that?”

“Did we ever have so many classes in one day last year?” Felicity asked as she sat down at their table, quickly greeting everyone before copying the timetable in Victoria’s hand. She already had two other pieces of paper in her hands. “Because Astoria just gave me the Slytherin schedule, and Wednesday is  _ packed _ . The Gryffindor one is slightly better, but only barely.”

“ _ Why  _ was I looking forward to being back here?” Victoria mumbled as she looked at the different timetables. They weren’t  _ awful _ , but the dark-haired girl had forgotten how it felt to enter a classroom at eight in the morning with absolutely zero motivation. “Are you coming to Defence with us, Felicity?”

“Nope,” the girl smirked. “I’ll go with the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws tomorrow; at least that way Ginny won’t be alone. In the meantime, since she has an Astronomy lesson at eight, I’ll be going back to sleep. And then, since you and Ginny have History, I’ll be accompanying you and sleeping some  _ more _ .”

“You know, sometimes I wish I had volunteered for our little project myself,” Victoria sighed. “At least that way I could avoid as many morning classes as I wanted to. But just so you know, I’m pretty sure my dad’s going to make it his mission to figure out your house, so please mess with him as much as possible.”

“I wouldn’t settle for anything less,” Felicity grinned. “Now, I’m back off to bed; I’ll see you all later, and good luck with the new professor! You’re his first class, so we want to hear all the details afterwards.”

The yellow-clad students glared at the girl half-heartedly but wished her a nice nap before getting up and crossing the hall to join their Slytherin companions.

The group of second-years at that table looked about as happy about the class as they did. Scarlett and Nerissa were brooding, clearly wanting to know who was to blame for the arrangement, although they brightened significantly when they spotted Poppy and Rory. Victoria tried not to blanch as she thought about what kind of trouble the four of them were going to get into  _ now _ .

“Hey Ria,” she greeted her blond friend, smiling at the girl’s ruffled hair and crooked tie. At least she wasn’t the only one who was having trouble dealing with the early hour. “How’re you feeling?”

The question was more loaded than usual; she knew that the previous day had been hard on both of them, and Victoria doubted that her friend was feeling any better than her.

“Okay,” Astoria assured her. “I talked to your father last night, and that helped. I was half expecting you to show up at some point, but you never did.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Victoria said, knowing that it  _ would  _ have been smart for her to speak with her father, but… “I don’t cope well with my fears. Usually, I just distract myself and try to sleep it off. It’s not exactly efficient, but it’s better than admitting that it happened.”

“That sounds a whole lot like denial,” Astoria frowned, finishing her plate and getting up, knowing that their class was starting soon.

“It’s a bit like denial, I suppose,” the Hufflepuff admitted. “But I’ll go to my dad if I don’t feel any better tonight, okay?”

Clearly her friend knew that she wouldn’t be getting a better deal, so she nodded, and the pair headed towards their Defence classroom with the rest of their group. Along the way, the two of them whispered about the new professor and what they thought he would be like. He  _ had  _ known how to help them on the train, and apparently, he had even saved Potter from the dementors, but that was hardly a reflection of one’s teaching methods.

“I just hope he doesn’t ignore us like some of the other professors do,” Victoria sighed. “Sometimes, I want to yell at the adults for caring so much about the houses, and  _ yes _ , that includes my dad. We’re even unluckier than you Slytherins, since Professor Sprout is the  _ only  _ Hufflepuff alumni who’s also a staff member here. 80% of our professors were either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.”

“ _ Seriously _ ?” Astoria asked, clearly shocked; Victoria could sympathise with her, since she had reacted quite the same way when her father had informed her of the complete lack of balance between the houses when it came to professors.

“Hmm,” the dark-haired girl continued as they took their seats in the classroom – which looked exactly as it had the year before. “McGonagall, Hagrid, Hooch, and Babbling are all Gryffindors. Flitwick, Binns, Trelawney, and Vector are Ravenclaw. The new Muggle Studies professor didn’t attend Hogwarts. Madam Pomfrey was also a Gryffindor, and Madam Pince a Ravenclaw. So of all the staff, only my dad, Sinistra, and Sprout, are from our houses.”

“That’s  _ insane _ ,” Astoria gaped. “No wonder those two houses always win the cup! And what about Lupin?”

“Don’t know,” Victoria shrugged. “But we can probably ask him after class. I’m betting on Gryffindor; my dad  _ really  _ doesn’t seem to like him.”

“Put me down for Hufflepuff,” Scarlett cut in from her spot behind them. “He was kind and patient with everyone last night, and he fussed for a whole hour trying to make sure that everyone was okay.”

“I’m with Victoria on this one,” Nerissa murmured, keeping an eye on the door to Lupin’s office. “He was concerned,  _ sure _ , but he spent most of the time looking after Gryffindors, and more specifically Potter and his little group of friends. A Hufflepuff would have been a bit more… fair, I think.”

Before anyone else could place their bets, their professor entered the room, looking as tired and worn down as he had the day before. Even his robes were threadbare, as though he couldn’t have cared less about his appearance. Victoria wondered if it was in his nature, or if being a werewolf had chipped away at his self-respect until he couldn’t even look at himself in a mirror without cringing away.

“Good morning class,” the man said, smiling at them cautiously. “I’m Professor Remus Lupin, and I’ll be your Defence instructor for the year. The Headmaster has told me that you might all be a little behind after your last professor, but I’ll try my best to get you up to speed! We’ll be dealing with a lot of creatures this year, and don’t be surprised if you hear similar stories from your first and third-year housemates; we’ll all be going over the same curriculum for the most part. Now, I’ll call out your names and expect an answer so I can get an idea of who’s who, although it might take me a while to identify all of you.”

Having gone through a similar process several times the year before, the class dutifully raised their hands and made themselves known when the professor reached their name. Halfway through, Victoria was almost  _ sure  _ that the man had been a Gryffindor; he glanced warily at the Slytherins, especially the ones with Death Eater parents, which was a very  _ lion  _ thing to do.

Surprisingly though, it was  _ her  _ name that gave him the most pause. He stared at it for a few seconds, eyes wide, before cautiously calling out ‘ _ Victoria Snape?’ _ . She brought his attention onto herself and narrowed her eyes when he gazed at her sadly. She didn’t know how well he knew her father, but there was clearly a good amount of history there.

Thankfully, he eventually moved on to the next person and finished reading off the list before telling them that they would be having a practical lesson and leading them towards the teacher’s lounge.

The room – which Victoria had seen once or twice during the summer, when her father had been needed – was empty but for a single ominous wardrobe that rattled and shook dangerously. Whatever was in there, the dark-haired girl didn’t want to deal with it.  _ Ever _ , if possible.

“Today’s lesson will be about boggarts,” the professor started. Almost everyone in the room froze. “Can anyone tell me what they are?”

Too distracted at the thought of having to face her  _ worst fear _ , Victoria barely listened as Nerissa reminded everyone about the nature of boggarts: shapeshifters that would take on the form of one’s most intense nightmare. Its only weaknesses were large groups and laughter.

They ran over the motions and incantation for the spell that should turn their fear into something funny, but Victoria felt numb. She couldn’t believe that the professor was going to make them show their fears in front of everyone else. Luckily, most of her year got along, but she couldn’t imagine how disastrous such an exercise could turn out,  _ especially  _ with Slytherin students.

Scarlett volunteered to go first, and Victoria couldn’t help but admire the determination that shone in the girl’s eyes and the firm grip that she maintained on her wand, even as Lupin opened the wardrobe to let the boggart out.

What followed was a painful showcase of all of her friends’ weaknesses. She watched, heartbroken, as Scarlett shook when the creature turned into a physical representation of Death – passingly, she was impressed at how sensible the redhead’s fear was. She gasped when uncontrollable fire sprung forth as soon as Nerissa replaced her housemate.

It was endless, and Victoria had never felt so useless. Her friends struggled, eventually finding ways to send the boggart back into the darkness; they trembled and wiped away tears, ignoring the professor when he tried to comfort them. Instead, they formed a steadily growing group at the back of the room and ran comforting hands down each other’s backs.

When Astoria shakily made her way to the front of the line, her face was almost as pale as it had been the day before, after the incident on the train. Victoria swallowed down her fury; her best friend had already had to relive her worst memories the day before, and now she was being forced to go against a boggart.

And then the boggart turned into a werewolf; huge, snarling, fur covered in blood. Victoria almost burst into hysterical laughter. Deep down, the dark-haired girl hoped that the professor regretted his idea. She hoped that seeing a representation of his wolf-self made him feel ashamed of himself.

Astoria wasn’t moving, her eyes glossy and her wand hanging limply in her left hand. Clearly, her fear didn’t just stem from having read too many books about the creatures or having heard horror stories as a child. The terror in her eyes was  _ real _ , and Victoria’s heart clenched as she realised that her friend had most likely already come face to face with a werewolf.

“Professor, do something!” Victoria snapped, glaring at the man. How could he stand there and watch without even  _ trying  _ to help?

Thankfully, the professor listened to her and stood in front of the blond girl, turning an image of the moon – how  _ ironic  _ – into harmless balloons. He tried to reach for Astoria, but Victoria was faster. How  _ dare  _ he try to touch her, knowing what he knew about her fear?

She led her friend to the back of the room, where Scarlett immediately took over by wrapping the girl into a hug, before heading back to the wardrobe and the boggart and Poppy, who was apparently trying to glare the Death Eater in front of her into submission.

It was enough to make Victoria relax slightly; the sight of her small, innocent-looking dormmate pinning a masked murderer with her meanest stare. If her friend could do it, then surely so could she, right?

( _ Right? _ )

Finally, her turn arrived. She stepped forward as confidently as she could, even though she was already shaking on the inside at the thought of seeing Darius again. She had thought that she would never have to deal with the man again outside of her nightmares, but apparently, she had been wrong.

The transformation seemed to last forever, but the result was the same. Where the dark mass of nothingness had resided a second earlier now stood her stepfather, cruel eyes gazing at her maliciously and pale wand pointed in her direction.

“ _ My darling girl _ ,” the boggart said – it was a  _ boggart _ , he wasn’t  _ here _ , he was in  _ Azkaban _ . “ _ It seems you haven’t gotten better at behaving, now have you, Victoria _ ?”

The voice though, the voice was  _ his _ , perfectly, down to the way he drawled and lingered on the second syllable of her name. And the wand was his, too, ready to aim a burning spell her way – if she was lucky.

Darius Nott was in prison, she knew, but Darius Nott was also right in front of her; taunting her as he always had and smirking as though he could read her thoughts. Unconsciously, she strengthened her Occlumency barriers and prayed that it would be enough to keep him out.

“You’re not real,” she whispered.

The boggart heard her.

“ _ Are you sure about that?”  _ it mocked her – she  _ was  _ sure,  _ had to be  _ sure. “ _ Are you sure that you’re so safe now? _ ”

She was  _ sure _ . She had her father, and she had her friends, and Darius Nott was in prison. He couldn’t hurt her anymore, and the boggart  _ definitely  _ couldn’t hurt her.

She glared at it, murmuring the incantation once before thinking about the man turning into a woman – the same technique that Poppy had used, in the end. When she called out ‘Riddikulus’, the spell worked, and Darius Nott disappeared.

Lupin congratulated them all, but Victoria wondered if he knew how badly he had messed up. She wasn’t going to trust him any time soon, decent lectures or not.

* * *

“No matter how instructive the lesson might have been, making us confront the boggart in front of everyone else was a  _ terrible  _ idea.”

Felicity had to agree with Victoria’s statement; as much as she cared about her education, she wasn’t looking forward to having to face her worst fear, and she knew that she was one of the lucky ones. She had had a good childhood, with a loving family and barely any troubles; her friends hadn’t all had that much.

Astoria was playing with her food listlessly, and Victoria was talking fast, as though trying to get it out of her mind as soon as possible. The rest of the Slytherin and Hufflepuff second-years were all in similar moods, eating their food absently and whispering to the palest students of the group.

Their first class with the new professor was scheduled for the following afternoon, and Felicity could already see her classmates fidgeting nervously, probably trying to figure out what the boggart would turn into for them. To be honest, if it hadn’t been for Ginny, Felicity would have skipped the class. No one really knew her schedule, which meant that as long as she kept herself informed about homework and lectures, she didn’t have to go to class.

She still did, of course, but it wasn’t a necessity, so she usually selected whichever time slots satisfied her the most and went to those classes. She also tried to accompany whichever one of her friends would end up alone for the lesson, which meant that she spent a decent amount of time with Ginny – who had most her classes with the Ravenclaws – but often went to Potions with Victoria and Herbology with Astoria.

The year before, she had barely bothered with Defence lessons, however she had promised herself that she would try to attend as many classes as she could this term, and she certainly wasn’t about to abandon Ginny to a crazy professor who thought that bringing a boggart into a school was a good idea.

Besides… There was a very good chance that both of their boggarts would be the same boy, although perhaps not in the same context. Tom Riddle had had much more of an impact on the redhead’s life, but Felicity could still remember the cruel glint in the teenager’s blue eyes as he gazed at Astoria and her thoughtfully and as he threw spells their way without a care in the world.

If there was a single moment in her life when she had been terrified, it had been right then, standing in front of a young Dark Lord and knowing that she didn’t stand a chance.

The thought plagued her mind all afternoon, so when Victoria suggested that the four of them have a sleepover to celebrate the beginning of term, the brunette jumped on the opportunity. Anything to get her mind off the disaster that was bound to happen the next day.

She even volunteered to go down to the kitchens with Astoria, something she rarely did, since she was still unsure about the treatment and ownership of house elves. Logically, she knew that the tiny little beings benefited from Hogwarts’ magic and had never been mistreated by a member of staff, but her mother was a Muggle, and she had been taught all about slavery, so… She was trying to get over her holdups, but it was slow-going, and she knew that quite a few muggleborns – as well as a fair number of half-bloods – struggled similarly.

“Miss Ria! Miss Churchy!” the elves exclaimed as the pair entered the kitchens.

She had to admit that they  _ looked  _ happy to be there, always bounding towards their guests as quickly as possible and making sure that they only left once they were full or ladled with gifts.

“Wes being missing yous, Misses!” Litzy said happily as the two girls approached their favourite house elf. “Hogwarts bes very sad without the children, and so are wes!”

“We missed you too, Litzy,” Astoria smiled softly. “But now we’re back! We’ve had a tough couple of days with the dementors and the new professor, so perhaps you could prepare a basket for us? We’re going to be sleeping in Slytherin tonight, and we want to impress the first-years.”

“Oh! Yous be taking care of the snakelets?” the house elf asked excitedly as she gathered mounds of food for the quartet to share. “The young ones bes looking very lost sometimes, just like yous last year.”

“We’re helping them a little bit, yes,” Astoria confirmed. “Maybe they’ll manage to find their way down here soon! And then you’ll have even more little witches and wizards to look after.”

“Yous are very good, Misses, very kind,” Litzy beamed. “Wes be making food for the little ones as well, but Litzy bes your very own special elf.”

“Well I certainly hope so!” Felicity chuckled. “We wouldn’t want to lose our favourite elf friend to some first-years; it would break out hearts!”

“Yous are being very dramatic, Miss Churchy,” the elf said sternly, although her huge eyes were sparkling with amusement. “But of course Is will still be helping yous and the other Miss Ria and the pretty Miss Wheezy. Is be making so much food to helps you fight off the dark cloakies!”

Indeed, when they left the kitchens ten minutes later, their arms were full of treats and sweets and  _ piles  _ of chocolate that would last them for days. Choosing the Slytherin dorms for the night had been a  _ very  _ strategic choice, since Felicity doubted that Astoria and her would have been able to carry the baskets all the way to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor tower.

Three corridors, two staircases, and a password later, the two girls were entering the snakes’ common room, matching green highlights on their robes. The spell to swap house colours on clothing wasn’t a simple one, since they were directly linked to a student’s magic, but after weeks of research, the girls had managed it.

Felicity, to make her life easier and not have to constantly use the spell, had simply found some old robes from each of the houses and had taken them for herself. However, she had noticed that the more time passed, the easier it was for her to charm her robes to match whichever house she had decided to sleep in for the night. The other girls still had a hard time with theirs, but… It was almost as though Hogwarts understood what she was doing and  _ approved _ .

“So, no quiet year for us, huh?” Victoria sighed once the four girls had settled around Astoria’s bed, snacks spread out on the green quilt. “The dementors are already ruining everyone’s mood, Lupin’s first lesson scared everyone, and who knows when Sirius Black will decide to stop by and add to the fun.”

“At least Lupin seems… Knowledgeable enough,” Astoria said tentatively. “Having us face the boggart was a bad idea, but the theory portion of the class was interesting and informative.”

“True enough,” Victoria grumbled. “I guess it’s better than not learning anything… But the boggart wasn’t the only thing that bothered me. My dad and Lupin know each other, as I told you guys on the train, and I was let in on a secret that’s making me… worry about this new man. I can’t speak about it because Dumbledore made me vow that I wouldn’t reveal anything to anyone, but I have a feeling that this is all going to end  _ terribly _ .”

“And I hope he doesn’t think that we didn’t notice the way he acted around us Slytherins,” Astoria rolled her eyes. “He may not have been as blatant as professors like McGonagall, but the prejudice is definitely there. He was also  _ scandalized  _ by Victoria’s very existence, I think.”

“How so?” Felicity asked, intrigued. She sometimes forgot that Victoria’s parentage wasn’t common knowledge, and that because of the problems with her mother and stepfather, most people weren’t aware that their professor even  _ had  _ a daughter. She vaguely remembered professors the year before who had stared at the black-haired girl when they thought that no one was looking, but she hadn’t realised that it would happen  _ every time  _ a new professor joined the staff.

“I think he believed that he was dreaming,” Victoria giggled. “His relationship with my dad seems to be a complicated one, so to see me, the living proof that my father isn’t a stranger to romance, must have been a weird experience. It’s the same way that most students looked at me at the beginning of last year; to them, my dad was this soulless professor whose only hobby was to degrade Gryffindors at every turn.”

“You’d think that at least the adults would react more maturely,” Ginny rolled her eyes. “I bet you that Lupin was a Gryffindor; the biggest idiots often come from my very own house.”

“Slytherin has its fair share of incompetents,” Astoria pointed out. “It’s all the attention; it gets to their head.”

“Hmm, but at least Snape’s never pulled a boggart out of his back pocket,” Ginny retorted. “Throwing danger around like that is  _ very  _ Gryffindorish. I just hope that he doesn’t expect us lions to be happier about the exercise since we’re from the house of the brave or something.”

“I wouldn’t hope too hard,” Victoria said with a grimace. “I heard from some third-years that their Gryffindor and Ravenclaw class already had their first lesson, and Potter along with his friends laughed at other people’s fears. It doesn’t matter if someone’s afraid of something as small as spiders or as basic as the dark; making fun of someone for their weakness is  _ pathetic _ . And now Lupin probably thinks that our class was a fluke and that the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were simply too  _ cowardly  _ to deal with the boggart.”

Attitudes like that were what motivated the second-years the most in their quest for unity. Every time someone degraded someone else based on their house, they added fuel to the fire that Victoria had started. Every time the professors took away points for no good reason, they justified Felicity’s defiance.

Their efforts had been noticed, but most people decided to simply ignore them rather than follow their example. Two or three professors – Snape and Sprout mostly – were trying to change their methods, but the quartet knew that they had a long way to go.

“He’ll be sorely disappointed tomorrow, then,” Ginny said quietly. “Because Tom Riddle is going to appear, and even though I’m prepared for it, I’ll still freeze.”

None of them mocked her for it; after all, they had all faced the boy, and all knew how dangerous he was. It was horrifying to realise that even then, having faced the shade of the Dark Lord, Astoria and Victoria had lived through  _ worse _ .

They didn’t talk about the boggart though; in fact, they talked about everything  _ but  _ the dark creature that hid in the teacher’s lounge as they spoke. They whispered about their other classes and placed bets on who would pull the first prank of the year – Ginny and Astoria had voted for the Weasley twins, but Felicity and Victoria had their money on their own terrible trio.

That night, Felicity slept soundly, and the next day, she listened attentively to her morning lectures, deciding to ignore her pounding heart for as long as she could. She ate with Ginny, let their friends’ voices soothe a part of her worries, and dragged her feet as they walked towards their Defence class.

Lupin greeted them with a smile, confiding that he himself had been a Gryffindor – unsurprising – and that he couldn’t wait to see them expand their potential. He led them to the teacher’s lounge confidently, either not noticing or overlooking the group’s nervousness.

And overall, the Gryffindors  _ did  _ cast the spell faster, but their fears weren’t as terrifying as some of the ones Felicity had heard about from the Slytherin/Hufflepuff group. The Ravenclaws managed fine as well, although there was a heart-stopping moment during which the entire room held their breath when Colin’s boggart turned into Bellatrix Lestrange.

Felicity didn’t even know  _ how  _ the muggleborn had learned about the insane witch, but she suddenly wished that she could curse whoever had scared the poor boy so badly.

Eventually though, it was Felicity’s turn. She tried to calm her nerves, but her hands were shaking as she stood in front of the boggart and waited, waited for it to transform and turn into…

Tom Riddle, smirk on his face, Slytherin uniform looking as pristine as it had in April. Tom Riddle, holding Ginny’s wand in his hand and twirling it around lazily. Tom Riddle, ready to fight and hurt and  _ kill _ .

Behind Felicity, Ginny gasped, and snapping out of her daze, the brunette banished the boy, turning him into a tiny puppy in an oversized Hogwarts uniform. She didn’t know  _ what  _ had happened in the minute it had taken her to cast the spell, but she let out a heavy breath as the boy vanished. It hadn’t been unexpected, and it hadn’t been as awful as she had thought it would be, but she knew that if a dementor were to approach her at that moment, they would  _ feast  _ on her thoughts.

“Miss Weasley, your turn,” the professor called out, looking at Ginny encouragingly.

Felicity stayed close to her, refusing to join her other classmates until she was sure that her best friend was okay. The redhead was breathing unsteadily, and Felicity’s heart clenched. She would be fine; the boggart wasn’t real; Ginny would remember.

But then Tom Riddle appeared again, and Felicity wasn’t so sure anymore.

The smirk and robes were still the same, but the boy looked… more real; like he was actually the Dark Lord, and not just a shade hidden in a diary. Lupin’s eyes widened when he realised that both girls had the same boggart, but Felicity’s gaze didn’t stray from Ginny’s shaking form.

“ _ Hello, Ginevra,”  _ Tom greeted with a charming smile.

Her friend raised her wand decisively, ready to strike. She  _ would have _ , Felicity thought, if only Tom hadn’t kept talking.

“ _ Don’t you miss me, little girl? _ ”

The wand fell to the floor, and seconds later, the redhead was running out of the room, frightened tears streaming down her face. It was Lupin who broke the following silence.

“Who was that, Miss Eastchurch?” he asked.

A murderer, she thought. A psychopath, a dark lord, a dangerous boy, a diary, a voice inside her friend’s head. Tom Riddle, a student full of powerful words and even stronger magic. She couldn’t say any of that, though.

“No one, sir,” she answered instead. “Just a shadow.”

A shadow who had almost killed two of her best friends, but still just a shadow, she told herself. A shadow who had made her fiercest friend run away, but still just a shadow. Tom Riddle was dead.

He  _ had  _ to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! A bit of an angstier chapter, but I think it works well in showing the girls' minds and thoughts and fears. If you thought Tom Riddle wasn't coming back, well... Still, I hope you liked this chapter! I'm still taking a break from writing for the HP fandom, but I have enough chapters lined up to last a while, so don't worry about my weekly updates!
> 
> Love, Julie.
> 
> (find me on twitter @juniesilvrheart)


	6. Theories in Magic

Two days into the term and Severus was already exhausted. His second and third years had come out of Lupin’s boggart class slightly traumatised, and more than a few of them had sought him out for comfort – he was gratified by their trust, but tired from the emotionally demanding conversations.

Astoria had had the most extreme reaction, but Theodore, Daphne, Pansy, Nerissa, and Charlie had quietly found him after their respective lessons. He wasn’t looking forward to the fall-out of his first-years’ lesson and wondered if Lupin could perhaps be convinced to spare the youngest students so much pain.

 _Lupin_. The Potions Master still couldn’t believe that the headmaster had hired the werewolf. He seemed to think that the man would help them catch Black, but Severus was worried that quite the opposite would happen – after all, the two men had been _extremely_ close in their youth and knew the castle better than almost anyone. However, Albus refused to hear reason, and the most that Severus could do was keep an eye on their new Defence professor and watch over his students.

His quarter’s wards sent a tingle through his body and the dark-haired man sighed, wondering who had found their way there, before remembering that there was a specific student that he hadn’t seen outside of class since school had started.

Locking his door, he gathered the pile of essays on his desk and left his office to go spend the evening with – hopefully – his daughter.

He was greeted by shining midnight eyes and the smell of his favourite cinnamon tea. His shoulders relaxed minutely and he smiled back at Victoria as she poured him a cup of his beloved beverage; he hadn’t realised how much he had missed the girl in the week that they had been apart, but his relief at seeing her was undeniable.

Ignoring the cup of tea for now, he crossed the room to embrace his daughter. She stiffened for a second only before returning the hug and drowning him in her apple-scented hair.

“I missed you,” he admitted softly, kissing Victoria’s forehead before stepping away and taking a seat in his armchair.

“I missed you too, dad,” the black-haired girl smiled shyly. “Although I had an amazing time with the Eastchurches! I think you’ll get along wonderfully with Felicity’s dad; he’s witty and sharp and full of _devious_ ideas.”

“Indeed,” Severus smirked. “Your friend is quite similar in that regard; I noticed that she’s always the first one to come up with ways to get the four of you in trouble.”

“Mostly, yeah,” Victoria grinned. “I see you haven’t forgotten about our little adventure in the village?”

He snorted; as if he could ever forget something like that. The four girls had disappeared into the town they lived in for an entire afternoon, and when he had made his way there the next day, rumours had been flying about the Prince family and the vampire at its head. It certainly hadn’t made his interactions with poor Mrs. Terry any easier.

“I’m rather surprised that Felicity isn’t a part of that infernal trio,” he said, thinking about the three students who rivalled the Weasley twins in ingenuity and skill at causing chaos.

“She’s not really one for pranking,” Victoria shrugged. “She doesn’t mind the chaos, but she’s a firm believer of school as a learning place, you know, so when we’re here, she’s surprisingly disciplined.”

Severus hummed noncommittally, having already noticed that his daughter’s brunette friend – although brash – stuck to educational matters and debates during school terms. He could appreciate the girl’s attitude, even if he thought that she had a lot of growing up to do – Victoria was so _mature_ compared to her classmates sometimes.

“My boggart turned into Darius,” his daughter announced suddenly, not looking into his eyes as he gazed at her worriedly. “It wasn’t unexpected, but… I thought I was over it; you know? He doesn’t have an impact on my life anymore, and he’s not allowed to even _approach_ me, so I shouldn’t be afraid, but…”

“Fear is hardly a rational feeling, sweetheart,” he told her gently. “Just because we know that something isn’t an immediate danger doesn’t make the prospect of facing it any less terrifying. I can assure you that being afraid of Darius doesn’t make you weak; only sensible.”

“I know…” Victoria murmured. “I just wish… I wish mum hadn’t married him, and I wish she’d stayed with you so that I could have been raised by someone who loved me, and I wish that I hadn’t let… let myself be hurt by that _man_. I wish that the dementors weren’t here and that Lupin hadn’t brought out a bloody boggart and that Astoria wasn’t afraid of _werewolves_ of all things.”

Severus ignored the pang of longing that flooded him at the thought of having always had his family at his side – he didn’t _need_ Melody to have that, and he didn’t need all of Victoria’s childhood memories – and focused on the second part of his daughter’s statement instead.

“You didn’t _let_ yourself be hurt, sweetheart,” he affirmed firmly. “And I’ll keep repeating that until you believe it. As for Astoria… I only wish that we could warn her, so that she could get used to the idea. However, I understand the need for discretion, especially since she isn’t the only one with that particular fear.”

“This is _ridiculous_ ,” Victoria snarled, the hopelessness turning into fury in a matter of seconds. “Even if Lupin turns out to be a great professor, and even if he helps you catch Black, the headmaster will have put the entire student body at risk for an entire _year_. There’s a reason why werewolves aren’t allowed to teach here!”

“Indeed there is,” Severus admitted. “But there’s nothing we can do about it. Believe me, I have tried to convince Albus that this is foolishness dozens of times already, but when that old man has a plan in mind, it is almost impossible to change his mind.”

“But this is a _school_ , dad,” the dark-haired girl growled, her midnight eyes alight with passion he hadn’t seen before. “This isn’t a playing ground or an experimentation area; students aren’t test subjects, and professors aren’t tools to bring out on occasion. We’re here to learn how to live and how to defend ourselves, not to become pawns in some endless battle that you adults are fighting.”

“You sound like you’ve put some thought into this,” Severus said, impressed and surprised despite himself. How much time had his daughter spent thinking about their school and its many flaws?

“Of course I have,” Victoria frowned, glancing at him like _he_ was the one with insane ideas in his head. “I have to live here for another six years, and the state of my education will dictate how far I go in life; isn’t it normal for me to be concerned over the state of things?”

“You’re _twelve_ , sweetheart,” Severus pointed out wisely, earning himself another incredulous stare. “No one’s expecting you to revolutionise this school or improve the headmaster’s skill at choosing Defence professors.”

“Well, no, I know that,” she said calmly. “But it doesn’t mean I can’t try. You have to admit that my year is a lot more manageable than most, and that even our grades are positively impacted by our willingness to study with people from every house. If we can reduce the house rivalry to almost nothing in a few months, can you imagine what we could achieve in seven years?”

Her eyes were sparkling brightly, and she was waving her hands around enthusiastically, clearly convinced that if she tried hard enough, she could accomplish just about _anything_. Looking at her and hearing the mixture of ambition and determination in Victoria’s voice, Severus couldn’t help but think that maybe she _could_.

The second-years were indeed the easiest class to deal with, by far. They hardly fought, their grades were, overall, higher than the other years’, and although they occasionally caused trouble, they were a pleasant, well-behaved group that surprisingly didn’t get on Severus’ nerves.

When Ravenclaw had won the House Cup at the end of the previous year, first-years from every house had cheered and congratulated their friends, and Severus was quite sure that they had snuck into the ravens’ tower that night to celebrate the victory. Victoria had friends in every house, and she was part of the rule, not the exception.

“What do you have in mind, then?” he inquired, wondering what kind of ideas his daughter hid in that clever brain of hers. He definitely wouldn’t mind participating in plans that didn’t involve war and dark lords and self-righteous boys for once.

“Well, our first project was the house issue,” Victoria told him. “Although we can’t really do anything about the upper-years, we talked to the younger students and are going to do our best to show them that forming inter-house friendships is an advantage. Our second goal is to try to limit the prejudice in professors. You guys are all so used to putting your house first that Slytherin and Hufflepuff are having a hard time _ever_ pulling ahead in the race for the cup.”

“I could… help with that,” the Potions Master grimaced. He was aware that he was guilty of the favouritism she was accusing the professors of, but his Slytherins were so rarely rewarded for their efforts that he couldn’t quite stop himself. “If I bring the topic up with some of my colleagues, I’m sure that at least a few of them would take the time to think about their actions.”

“That would be great,” Victoria grinned. “I just want to make sure that all of my friends are treated equally here, you know? We do our best to stop baseless bullying from the older students, and we have an unofficial defence group set up to learn a few useful spells, but if the teachers got involved it would be… easier.”

“Indeed,” Severus acknowledged. “What of your other plans?”

“I can’t really do anything about those,” his daughter shrugged. “They’re mostly just thoughts that pop up in my head every once in a while, when I imagine what I could do if _I_ was Headmistress.”

“Humour me,” the dark-haired man said, curious to hear more. “Hearing your point of view on Hogwarts is refreshing.”

“Well, I’d start by doubling or tripling the staff,” she stated firmly. “I don’t think that most students realise this, because they don’t have a parent who’s also a professor, but I can see how busy you are and how impossible your schedule is. The least you deserve is an assistant to help you with grading, and in your case brewing. We also need a way to make sure that muggleborns are getting all the help that they need; magic is new to them, and there are so many things that we take for granted that they’re unused to. Splitting classes by level rather than house could also be useful; there are plenty of students who are great at some subjects but always feel inferior in others because of the huge gap in skill. And of course, we’d need to find a way to make sure that our Defence professors aren’t _useless_ or _dangerous_ , but that’s just wishful thinking.”

Pride bubbled in Severus’ chest as he listened to his daughter speak about her suggestions. Not only was Victoria kind, compassionate, smart, and beautiful, but she was also – apparently – innovative and intuitive. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve a child as amazing as the one that Magic had gifted him, but he wasn’t about to complain.

“Those are _wonderful_ ideas, sweetheart,” he smiled, delighting in the pleased grin he got in response. “Let me find some parchment; we should write them down, and I’ll try to see if Lucius would be willing to help.”

Victoria bounced excitedly, clearly eager to see if her wishes could turn into a reality.

* * *

Monday rolled around and with it, Astoria’s second Defence class of the year. Half an hour had passed since the beginning of the lesson and the blond girl was surprised and annoyed to find that Lupin was actually a _good_ teacher. She wondered why the man couldn’t have started with a lecture like the one he was currently giving, but she had stopped trying to understand her Gryffindor friends’ actions, so she supposed that she would have to do the same with their new professor.

On top of the decent lesson, she was feeling slightly more charitable after the teacher had apologised for the boggart. She was almost certain that Victoria’s father had something to do with that, but she wasn’t about to call him out on his somewhat-sincere statement.

Victoria and Felicity – who had decided to attend as many Defence classes as possible to avoid any disasters like last week’s – hadn’t been mollified, however, and had glared all through the professor’s speech. Felicity wasn’t even listening to the lecture anymore, having decided to draw, as she so often did.

“You know he’s actually saying something interesting, right?” she whispered to her brunette neighbour, who shrugged and continued colouring the forest she had started sketching that week-end.

Astoria looked at Victoria for support, but the black-haired girl was staring at Lupin intently, eyes shining with interest and barely veiled distrust. The Slytherin supposed that the man partly deserved it; he had ignored all of her friend’s questions but one, which he had answered cautiously, as though Victoria was going to attack him at any given moment.

Giving up on Felicity, Astoria decided to follow her more reasonable friend’s example and listened intently as Lupin finished the part of his lecture that focused on the history of dark magic and moved on to explain the careful line to be drawn between Darkness and Light.

“When it comes to creatures, that line is easier to define,” the professor told them. “Beings have an essence that makes them either entirely dark or entirely light, unlike spells or even objects. Unicorns, for example, are perfectly light and pure, whereas vampires lay on the opposite side of the spectrum.”

Astoria frowned at the blatant approval of the Light compared to the Dark, but ultimately decided to stay quiet. He hadn’t exactly said that Dark meant evil, so she would let the comment pass.

Victoria, however, was vibrating in her seat, and Astoria was struck with the sudden realisation that she had never seen her friend quite so active in a class, except for Potions. The midnight blue eyes that she had gotten to know so well were shining with the kind of passion she had only seen when they talked about their plans of inter-house unity or when the older girl was teaching them about Magic.

 _Oh_. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been quite so surprised; after all, the subject of the lesson was extremely close to some things that Victoria had explained to them in the past.

Lupin looked torn between ignoring the dark-haired girl again or saving himself the trouble and simply giving in – he had to have realised by now that the first option only made Victoria more determined to be noticed. Indeed, a few moments later, the man called on the dark-haired girl, who smirked victoriously.

“But doesn’t that clear line depend on the definition that we’re using of what a creature is, sir?” her friend asked, head tilted, and brows furrowed as she put her thoughts into words. “You’re counting both vampires and unicorns here, which means that you must also count fairies, goblins, and even werewolves. Whilst the first could be considered light and the third dark, goblins certainly don’t fit in either category. And even then, werewolves have been known to have varying cores depending on the person, since a light wizard who is bitten would be more likely to end up grey than dark. So is there really _ever_ a true line between the two Magics?”

Lupin was gaping at the black-haired girl, but Astoria and the rest of their classmates were only looking at him patiently, curious to know the answer to their friend’s question. They were used to Victoria’s strangely insightful views of Magic; the girl’s knowledge of the power that flooded their veins was vaster than anyone’s in their year – and probably than the first and third-years as well.

“That’s an… interesting question, Miss Snape,” the man said, and he actually _did_ look impressed, which made Astoria hope that he wouldn’t ignore Victoria again in the future. Her friend could bring a _lot_ to the table in his class. “You are right, of course; trying to separate Light and Dark completely is impossible. Magic tends to prefer being whole, and therefore our world is full of Grey beings, objects, and spells, which truly reflect power in its purest form. Light and Dark wizards are rarer than one might think, and most of your cores are probably Grey, especially at such a young age. The same can be said about sentient beings like Goblins, fairies, and the occasional werewolf or vampire. However, in the case of non-sentient creatures, a line _can_ be drawn, so that’s the type of creature that we’ll be focusing on this year. And in accordance with the name of this class, we’ll be focusing exclusively on dark creatures, which are the ones you should truly worry about.”

Victoria raised her hand again, and a few amused laughs rang around the room. The professor smiled tiredly but gestured for the girl to ask her next question.

“Don’t you think that’s going directly against what you just said?” she inquired. “Light creatures aren’t all inherently good just because of their magic, and not all dark creatures are ill-intentioned either, so aren’t we missing out on a lot based on our class’s frankly ridiculous title?”

Lupin seemed, once again, baffled, and mumbled something about the Care of Magical Creatures elective they could take the following year before moving on with his lecture, telling Victoria that she could come see him at the end of the lesson if she had any more questions.

An hour later, the trio of girls and Lupin were the only ones left in the classroom, because _of course_ Victoria still had questions. The girl was _ruthless_ when it came to Magic. Astoria remembered a particular story that she had told them about the Light and the Dark and was sure that they were going to be there for a while.

“Miss Snape,” the professor said, sounding just a tad impatient. “I have another class coming in soon, so I hope you’ll be able to make this quick.”

“Of course, professor,” Victoria said respectfully. “There’s honestly only one thing I want to know. Are we focusing on dark creatures because that’s what our curriculum says, or because you think that we don’t _need_ to defend ourselves against light creatures?”

It was as close as the girl would get to admitting that she thought the professor’s decision was useless, and Astoria was quite certain that she would be dissatisfied no matter what Lupin answered.

“We’re focusing on dark creatures because at the end of the day, they _are_ more dangerous than light creatures,” the man sighed, glancing at the door when a few third-years started trickling in. “The headmaster approves of my choice, so we’ll be sticking to what I announced earlier.”

“Well then, nothing I can do,” Victoria shrugged. She smiled then, and Astoria would have said that she looked unassuming if it wasn’t for the vicious glint that sparkled in her eyes for a second. The blond girl briefly wondered _what_ Lupin had done to annoy her friend. “I can’t wait to hear your lesson on werewolves, sir, I’m sure it’ll be… _informative_.”

The man paled slightly, eyes widening minutely at Victoria’s statement. Felicity looked as confused as Astoria felt, which reassured her slightly, although she still wondered what the whole exchange was about. Was Victoria just trying to remind Lupin of Astoria’s fear, or was the Slytherin missing something?

As they walked away from the frozen professor, Felicity leaned in closer to Victoria, her eyebrows furrowed.

“What was that about?” the brunette whispered.

Victoria didn’t answer, but the proud smirk that she wore through their entire lunch period was enough to confirm Astoria’s suspicion. Something was going on with Lupin, something that Snape knew and had shared with Victoria; something _big_. And Astoria was going to figure out what it was.

A single glance towards Felicity assured her that she wouldn’t be alone in her quest for answers.

Victoria woke up on the 7th of September with a frown on her face. Her talk with Lupin had kept her in a good mood all afternoon, and she had fallen asleep easily, only to be assaulted with nightmares of werewolves and dead friends. She couldn’t shake the image of her father, lying unconscious and bloody, out of her head.

Hoping that she would forget about the disturbing dreams, she got ready for the day, thanking her dormmates as they wished her a happy birthday.

Shaking away the last of her unease, she smiled slightly. She wasn’t about to let misplaced fear ruin her day; the full moon was still two weeks away, so there was no reason to dwell on the impossible.

(Nevertheless, she resolved to talk to her father about it; perhaps he would have a way to calm her worries, or even a vial of Dreamless Sleep or two.)

By the time she reached the Great Hall, she had shoved all thoughts relating to werewolves to the back of her mind. She grinned widely as she spotted her three best friends already seated at the Hufflepuff table, waving at her wildly. Ginny looked tired, like every morning, and Victoria knew from experience that she would only truly become conscious after her second cup of tea. They were quite similar in that regard.

“Happy birthday!” the girls exclaimed as soon as she was within an arm’s length. They broke into a hilariously off-key rendition of the song and were joined by everyone in their year – at least, everyone who was already awake.

The black-haired girl thanked them profusely, glad to see that they had followed wizarding tradition. Most muggleborns didn’t understand the pureblood and half-bloods’ insistence that birthdays be celebrated at breakfast, but Victoria appreciated it greatly. Therefore, when Rory curiously asked her where the tradition came from, she beamed and launched into her story, very much aware of her yearmates’ giddy attention.

They really _did_ love hearing about Magic.

“It’s actually one of the many traditions that started right here at Hogwarts,” she started softly, making everyone lean in to hear her better. “I don’t know who started it exactly, but rumour is that it came from a half-blood witch whose best friend was often forgotten. It’s not exactly a fantastical tale of magic, but I find it quite heart-warming. To make sure that everyone payed attention to her friend on that friend’s birthday, she started celebrating it in the morning, so that everyone who crossed her path during the day would know that she was to be congratulated and respected. After that, it became a habit for friends to sing as loudly as possible on their yearmates’ birthday to encourage the most joyful day for them. It’s also supposed to show the importance that the person holds in your heart; after all, if you wait until lunch to say anything, it makes it look like you simply forgot about them.”

“But what about presents, then?” a muggleborn Ravenclaw – Elise, Victoria’s mind supplied – asked. “Shouldn’t they also be given at breakfast?”

“Well, no, not really,” Victoria shrugged. “Singing and celebrating is a public affair but presents are a representation of what that person means to you, so they’re kept private. Some people even go as far as to receive the gifts one on one, so that no one feels pressured to buy something grander or more expensive than someone else.”

Really, birthday traditions depended on the family. The morning rule only applied to Hogwarts students, although Victoria’s mother had always celebrated it that way, so it didn’t feel strange to her.

She wondered what her father’s family did for birthdays. She wondered if he would get her anything, if he would come find her as soon as he could, if he would take her to his quarters for a private celebration between themselves.

Her musings were interrupted by her mother’s owl landing in front of her. She winced at the memory of her last meeting with the woman but thanked the bird for coming so swiftly and accepted both the letter and the gifts attached to its leg.

She hated the conflicted feelings that overwhelmed her when she realised that despite everything she had said and despite how strongly she’d rejected her mother, the woman had still cared enough to send her something. She knew, deep down, that her mother loved her; that she had never wanted her, but that she had done her best to accept her.

However, her heart still couldn’t forgive the long nights she had spent suffering in Darius’ company as her mother locked herself into her office to work. She couldn’t forget the loneliness of living in a manor as a child with no one to look after her but the house elves. She couldn’t forget the months she had spent crying and listless when she had realised that her mother _had never wanted her_.

Not wanting to ruin her tentatively good mood, she hid the present at the bottom of her school bag, telling herself that she’d open it later, and forced a smile onto her face as her friends stared at her worriedly.

She accepted all of her housemates’ well wishes and pushed her mother to the back of her mind, right next to the werewolf nightmares. Sometimes, she hated how proficient she was at Occlumency – hated _why_ she was so good at it – but then, she remembered how useful it was, and she was willing to admit that Darius had at least done _one_ good thing for her in all of the years they had spent in the same house.

The barriers made it possible for her to focus in Potions class, even as she wondered if her father would approach her or ask her to stay at the end of the class or if he would do nothing at all. She chopped and diced and crushed, brewing as gracefully as she always did – nowhere _near_ as beautifully as her father, but good enough that pride shone in the man’s eyes every time he looked at her.

“Miss Snape, please stay after class,” the potions master announced as the class bottled their brews. Victoria couldn’t hide the pleased smile that lit up her face at the request, and she was fidgeting incessantly by the time the last Ravenclaw left the room.

“Yes, dad?” she asked excitedly, earning herself an amused huff from her father as he approached her and kissed her forehead gently – it had become a habit of his, she had noticed.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” he said warmly, handing her a small box wrapped in lavender paper. “I’m sorry that I can’t spend more time with you today, but I hope that this makes up for it, even just a little bit.”

Making sure that her father’s next class hadn’t started arriving, she tore the present open, her midnight eyes widening when she understood what the man had just given her.

“Dad,” she whispered. “Are these what I think they are?”

“Hmm,” her father hummed affirmatively. “They’re a family heirloom, and I thought that you might like having your own set.”

Instead of answering him, she jumped into his arms, making sure to place the beautiful potions knives on a table before holding onto him tightly. He had given her something that was both useful and held more value than anything she had ever received; something that belonged to her family, to the father whom she loved so dearly.

She thanked him over and over again, only leaving when he pointedly reminded her that she had a class to get to, and that he had students waiting for him outside. Reluctantly, she crossed the castle and settled into the seat next to Felicity as Flitwick started lecturing.

Frankly, she didn’t listen to a single thing he said. She was too busy thinking about a stunning set of knives, the Prince motto and logo carved into their blades and midnight-blue stones – the exact shade of their eyes – encrusted in their hilts.

The thought of those knives and the trust that they symbolised – her father had handed her _priceless_ heirlooms – got her through the day, even as she became more and more exhausted with everyone’s attention, even as she opened her mother’s letter only to find out that it had been written by her aunt, even as some of the upper-years grumbled about second-years wandering where they didn’t belong when her friends walked into the common room that night.

She ignored it all, focusing on the girls who had kept her company all throughout the day and on the set of knives hidden in her secure trunk. She laughed with her friends, told them about her father’s gift, stuffed herself with her favourite sweets, and fell asleep surrounded by three of her favourite people in the world.

That night, she dreamed of midnight-blue eyes full of love and a trio of matching smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! And thank you, as always, to my lovely sister for editing this fic for me.
> 
> I am so sorry for the huge gap between the last chapter and this one. I lost a lot of my motivation for posting this fic and found myself getting dragged into some other fandoms. All my chapters are still ready to be put up, but I constantly felt like no one would read them and kept putting off the next posting day. I apologise for this wait, but I hope there will still be a few readers around to enjoy the rest of this series. 
> 
> That being said, I wanted to say an immense thank you to Jade Maverick for commenting on both Loyalty and this fic multiple times. I know I've already thanked you, but your comments honestly kept this fic alive in my thoughts, so a million thank yous for that.
> 
> I'm going to try to update this fic somewhat regularly but can't promise you anything. I'm writing for other fandoms regularly so for now, the writing of this series has been put on hold (although keep in mind that I still have the entire second and third fics written, I just need to find the motivation to post them). 
> 
> If you're still here after all these months, thank you so much. Wishing you all the best!
> 
> Love, Junie.


	7. Samhain

Just like the previous year, September and October seemed to rush past, and before they knew, Halloween – Samhain, as her friends would say – was upon them. Lupin’s classes had gotten progressively more interesting, although Ginny heard that the man was still hesitant around the Slytherins and treated Victoria with sometimes poorly concealed suspicion.

Apparently, Victoria had more opinions than just about everyone and liked to pester the professor with questions every few minutes. The Hufflepuffs and Slytherins found it rather entertaining, but Felicity thought that Lupin was slowly losing patience, especially since it was becoming increasingly hard to actually answer their curious friend’s inquiries.

Ginny, however, was enjoying almost all of her lessons – she still didn’t understand the point of Herbology, but there was nothing she could do about that – and found that life at Hogwarts without an evil diary possessing students was a refreshing experience.

Of course, the dementors roaming the grounds were _not_ a welcome addition, but at least they stayed away most of the time – and when they dared come close to a student, they were sure to face their professors’ wrath. Sirius Black was still a topic of conversation at the Gryffindor table, but most students preferred to act as though there wasn’t a mass murderer on the loose.

Therefore, by the 31st of October, the whole school was relaxed and ready for that evening’s feast, clearly deciding that stuffing themselves with food was more important than worrying about a half-formed threat.

“So, are you guys doing something for Samhain this year?” Ginny asked her friends as they had breakfast at the Slytherin table. The redhead thought that discussing tradition at the snakes’ table was their safest bet; she didn’t want to imagine how her brothers would react if they knew what her friends believed and celebrated.

“Of course we are,” Victoria answered, a small smile on her face. “Since today’s Sunday, it’ll be easy enough to wander around and do whatever we want to.”

“Ooh, can I join you again this year?” a sweet voice asked excitedly, its owner sitting down next to Felicity. The boy that joined them had warm honey eyes and a smile almost as bright as Victoria’s.

“Of course you can, Will,” Victoria grinned. “Did you end up reading more about the Olde traditions? We didn’t really join up for any other festivals last year… I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

“It’s fine!” the boy waved away the dark-haired girl’s apology. “I did read more about them, and Ebony told me as much as she could about the traditions she upheld, and well… I find them all really cool, so I celebrated them with her during the school terms and by myself at home.”

“That’s great!” Felicity exclaimed with a smile. “Does anyone else want to celebrate with us?”

Surprisingly, Astoria shook her head and announced that she would follow her family’s habit of ignoring the holiday. However, it turned out that quite a few students had found themselves curious after Victoria’s numerous speeches about Magic and had looked up their culture’s traditions. There were at least ten students who asked to take part in the day’s activities.

“Can you tell us another story about Samhain, Victoria?” a Ravenclaw boy – Nathan, Ginny thought – asked, eyes wide and pleading.

Victoria huffed amusedly but nodded, furrowing her brows for a few seconds as she undoubtedly thought about which tale to entertain them with. Ginny found herself intrigued despite everything she’d been taught before; her family didn’t follow the traditions, but the way Victoria spoke about them… It made the redhead think that maybe they _should_.

“Well, how about I tell you about one of the traditions that we’ll be partaking in today?” the girl finally decided. “This is a tradition mostly followed by witches and wizards, actually, because it relies heavily on the communication between an individual and the Magic around them. Since some Muggles can feel Magic, they will occasionally participate, but it’s a lot more common in our world.”

A few questions about how a Muggle could possibly feel Magic popped up at that moment, but Felicity shushed the unruly listeners, telling them that it was a story for another time.

“Long ago, when communing with Nature was something that every magical folk did, a terrible storm came upon our land and destroyed both crops and beings,” Victoria continued, unbothered by the whispers around them. “The Muggles prayed and prayed, asking our Mother to spare them and to grant them a bountiful harvest that year, but the spirits of our gods and goddesses were furious and refused to fulfil their wishes. The Magical portion of the community tried as well, casting spell after spell and participating in a multitude of rituals, but nothing changed. Everyone was getting desperate, and as the summer reached its end and the harvest showed no signs of being plentiful, a brave witch by the name of Neve left the small village she had grown up in to search for the deity that they had angered.”

Ginny listened eagerly, and it seemed that even some of the third-year Slytherins were trying to overhear the story. The redhead couldn’t blame them; just like every other time Victoria spoke about Magic, strands of her power floated in the air around them and her eyes glowed brightly, full of confidence and giddiness.

“Neve travelled for days, looking at the sky and begging the spirits to hear her and to give her a chance to redeem her people. Eventually, the spirit of Eris, Goddess of Chaos, approached her, ready to kill the fool who had been begging them incessantly for nights on end. However, Neve was a smart witch, and she had brought food to appease the spirit that would find her. Accepting the gift, Eris finally admitted that she had been the one to curse their land after they had forgotten all about her in favour of kinder gods.

Hearing the goddess’s story, Neve promised that she would make it up to Eris, and only asked for a better harvest in exchange. A deal was made, and Neve made it back to her village, deciding that the best day to honour Eris would be on Samhain, since that was when their connection to Magic would be the strongest.

On the 31st of October, she gathered all of the magical folk in her town and together, they baked hundreds of loaves of bread infused with their magic. That night, they left the bread on their doorsteps, praying to Lady Eris and begging her for good fortune. The next year, they were rewarded for their efforts when their harvest was more successful than it had ever been. From then on, it became tradition to bake something for Goddess Eris on Samhain.”

“Woah,” Scarlett breathed out after a few seconds had passed. Ginny could only nod to show how much she agreed with her fellow redheaded friend. “How do you _know_ all of these things, Ria?”

“The Manor I grew up in had an extensive library,” Victoria shrugged, her cheeks reddening as she realised that she had once again managed to grab everyone’s attention. “And I find the subject interesting; what could be better than learning about Magic itself? Besides learning about Potions, of course.”

Ginny snorted in amusement but had to agree that her friend had a point; if she had had so many books about the world they lived in at her disposition, wouldn’t she have also tried to learn everything about it? Every tradition and story and reason as to why their magic was the way it was?

“So we’re going to be baking bread?” Nerissa wondered out loud. Scarlett and she had been two of the many to decide that they’d like to participate in the day’s festivities. “Because I’m _pants_ at cooking, Victoria.”

“We are, and it doesn’t matter,” their storyteller said dismissively. “Using magic to bake bread means that you don’t really need to be skilled for it to work. We’ll all follow a basic recipe, but it’s all about helping each other out when we’re struggling, doing your best, and tying your magic to the bread. It’s not like you’re going to be eating it, and I can promise you that the goddess appreciates our intentions far more than the end result.”

Ginny waited until most of the table had cleared out before standing up and scooting closer to her three best friends, palms slightly sweaty as she gathered up the courage to ask what she’d been wanting to ask all throughout the meal.

“Do you… Do you think that I could come with you guys?” she asked quietly, not wanting to attract anyone’s attention. “I know that my family’s quite radical in their opposition to traditionalism, but… Well, I don’t think the Olde Ways sound half bad, and the baking sounds like it’ll be a lot of fun.”

Victoria and Felicity’s eyes softened, and smiles appeared on their faces as they linked their arms with hers.

“Of course, you can come with us,” Felicity huffed. “We’re not about to stop anyone from learning more about our traditions, and especially not our best friend.”

“Right,” Ginny blushed, wondering why she had been so nervous in the first place. “I hope you don’t mind, Astoria.”

The blond girl only waved her away.

“Don’t worry about it,” she grinned. “I’ll see you all later; I promised Freya that I’d get my revenge at chess. She _destroyed me_ the other day.”

The two groups went their separate ways, and Ginny stayed close to her friends as a dozen of second-years headed for the kitchens. She walked quietly, trying to ignore the part of her heart that felt like she was betraying her family. Surely, they wouldn’t mind, right? They would love her no matter what, Bill had said, and there was no reason for this to be any different; she had to believe that.

* * *

Theo stared at the spot that Astoria and her friends had deserted with interest and tried to ignore the prickle of unease that racked through his body when he noticed Draco’s fascinated gaze.

The Snape girl had spoken so vividly that she had attracted a good portion of the table’s attention. Theo didn’t think he could remember a time when he had felt so much untrained power flying around him, and he had to admit that it had been quite an impressive show. The story itself was fine, but it was the way that the dark-haired girl had spoken; the brightness of her eyes, the wild gestures, the way her Magic amplified her voice just slightly… Those were the truly remarkable things.

“Daphne, Theo,” Draco smiled at the pair – his usual fake smile, the one that made Theo’s skin crawl and the sneer on Daphne’s face deepen just a little bit. “You hadn’t told us about how… interesting the Snape girl was.”

“Please, Malfoy,” Daphne scoffed. “As if you’d have listened to us. You’re much too preoccupied with Potter, your status within Slytherin, and your own reflection.”

“And what? You’re so much better?” the blond boy snarled, the smile sliding off his face. Sometimes, Theo forgot how childish the Malfoy heir was. “Just admit that you’ve never noticed it either.”

“We hadn’t noticed it before, you’re right,” Theo shrugged elegantly. “But at least we’re not going to suddenly try and suck up to her in order to gain her favour. Besides, you should be very careful with the way you act around her.”

“And what if I’m not? What are you going to do about it?” the boy smirked, and Theo silently prayed for patience.

Although Draco wasn’t particularly unintelligent, he had the bad habit of relying on his father and his last name for everything, which meant that outside of classes, he tended to act like a bigger idiot than Potter’s little trio.

“Malfoy,” Daphne drawled. “Think before you speak; you give us a bad reputation, acting like a brainless ponce all the time. Theo may not be able to do anything to you – although I think you’re rather underestimating his creativity – but what about Victoria’s father? Or have you forgotten that she’s our Head of House’s _daughter_?”

“Please,” Draco snorted. “What’s he going to do? Take a few house points from his own Slytherins? Give me detention?”

Theo almost punched the boy right then, if only to see if it would knock an _ounce_ of common sense into that bigoted, self-righteous, arrogant head of his. Draco wasn’t… He wasn’t a bad person, deep down, Theo knew. The two of them had known each other for a long time, and behind all of those masks, Theo had seen hints of a boy who was eager to learn and who wanted nothing more than to be loved for himself rather than for his name.

However, that boy hadn’t surfaced in a long time; not since they had started Hogwarts, that was certain. And Theo couldn’t help but think that it was a shame; would they really lose such a bright mind to prejudice? Why hadn’t the boy’s parents been able to curb that cruel and selfish spark that seemed to get brighter every time Theo turned around?

“This is useless, Daphne,” the sandy-haired boy sighed, glancing at his best friend. “Let’s just go outside; the weather’s better today than it’s been in a long while. But Draco, just so you know; there isn’t much that Professor Snape wouldn’t do to make sure that his daughter is safe and happy. _Please_ don’t do anything that you’ll end up regretting.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, dragging his golden-haired friend out of the Great Hall and straight towards their favourite spot at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They had found it last year, when Daphne had been trying to avoid the Slytherin common room – after the confrontation between Astoria and Draco – and Theo had fallen in love with it.

Occasionally, when they were quiet and careful enough, creatures would approach them, looking curious and suspicious. Theo had a soft spot for animals, and even more so for ones that had to live in a forest so close to children. He always went around with food in his school bag, ready to distribute snacks to whichever creature was brave enough to walk his way.

“Professor Snape won’t be happy if he hears about this,” Daphne said softly once they had settled down on a semi-clean patch of grass. The girl had sniffed at the dirt but had relented – as usual – at Theo’s amused snort. “I don’t know much about his relationship with… Victoria, but Astoria went to his house this summer, and she seems to think that he cares a great deal about her.”

“Hmm, I think that’s an understatement,” Theo answered, laying back and staring at the clear sky. “Professor Snape never said anything to me directly, but you know that I spent some time with him during our first year to deal with my… issues. He was already protective of me, looking for ways to get me away from my dad. Can you imagine how protective he’d be of his daughter who also went through what I did? She’s his blood, his only family as far as I can tell; that girl is _untouchable_ as long as we’re in this school.”

And she was, for more reasons than one.

Professor Snape would be an obstacle to Draco’s plans of getting the girl on his side – or whatever else he had in mind – but he certainly wouldn’t be the only one. If Draco managed to escape the potion master’s attention, he would still have an entire year of students to deal with.

Theo wondered if the boy had noticed how all of the girl’s yearmates congregated around her when she spoke – he wondered if the girl noticed – or how her three best friends, Astoria included, trusted her implicitly. It spoke of friendship that had gone through something and come out stronger; it spoke of events that had ended with two girls in the infirmary but also the creation of unbreakable links.

He wondered if Draco was stupid enough to think that a girl who was more powerful than him would actually submit to him. Victoria Snape was not someone to be messed with, and Theo had done whatever he could to stop the disaster waiting to happen. If Draco decided to ignore his warning, there was nothing he could do about that.

“She’s got so much magic,” Daphne murmured. “Astoria mentioned it before, of course, but I hadn’t expected it to be so potent. Her birthday helps, I suppose, but… There’s more to it than just that.”

“She’s a half-blood, you know,” Theo said. Daphne looked at him strangely for a moment, as though wondering what his point was. “It’s not well-known, since Professor Snape doesn’t like to broadcast his blood status, but she is. And there are… rumours. Rumours that the most powerful wizards and witches of the century have almost all been half-bloods.”

“And you think that explains the sheer excess of magic that girl has?” Daphne asked incredulously. “Just a rumour and her blood status?”

“I think that there are a lot of explanations behind it,” Theo said slowly. “She’s a half-blood, yes, but she also has an incredibly powerful father. She was born on a very fortuitous day. She grew up around magic. She follows the Olde Ways.”

“Hmm, I see what you mean,” Daphne admitted, gingerly laying down next to him. “Astoria’s magic is nothing to be ashamed of either. She’s got more of it than either of us, I’d reckon.”

“I know,” Theo sighed. “And Weasley is a seventh child. The only mystery is that last girl, the one that everyone seems to forget. I can’t even get a clear idea of what house she’s in; she fades in the background so easily.”

But no matter how forgettable she was, Theo knew that dismissing her wouldn’t be a wise idea. The Snape girl wouldn’t keep her around if she was just the dull witch that everyone seemed to believe she was. If two of her best friends had significant amounts of magic, it wouldn’t make any sense for the last girl of the quartet to be weak or uneducated.

“She’s top of their year,” Daphne said suddenly. “Astoria came second, the Snape girl fourth and the Weasley girl seventh. They’re not just powerful, they’re also _smart_ , Theo. I don’t know how their year works, what with the strange unity they’ve created, but those four are in charge, undoubtedly.”

“Probably, yes,” Theo admitted. He didn’t understand what they were doing exactly, and he wasn’t sure how they had managed to make everyone interact so easily, but it was impressive.

“Astoria’s happy,” Daphne smiled softly. “She was so afraid that she wouldn’t make friends, but I’ve never seen her fit in so well with a group of people, not even us. I don’t know _what_ they did last year, and I really don’t want to find out, but it’s made her… more confident, I think. Only slightly, but enough that our parents noticed the change.”

“Did they ask about her friends?” Theo inquired, curious; the Greengrasses weren’t exactly blood purists, but they were definitely Dark, and Theo had sometimes found himself wondering if his father and Daphne’s had matching tattoos.

“They didn’t have to,” Daphne chuckled. “She told them herself; they wouldn’t have let her go to the Snapes’ house otherwise, and then there was Weasley’s birthday party in August.”

“They let her go there?” Theo asked, eyes widening slightly. The Weasleys were purebloods, but they had long been dismissed as traitors due to their way of living. Most families tried to stay as far away from them as possible, especially those who were close to the Malfoys. Letting Astoria attend that birthday party was… a risk, at the very least.

“They met the Weasley girl before that, but yes, they did,” Daphne replied. “I’m not sure that father was _happy_ about it, but the girl isn’t as bad as most of her brothers, so he didn’t protest too much. Besides, mother loves Astoria too much to forbid her from seeing her friends over the summer.”

“Right,” Theo acknowledged. “They’re changing a lot of things, you know. They’re not just lessening house rivalry, they’re also impacting their yearmates’ views on blood purity. I’ve noticed that the very few who stay apart are those who can’t keep their unwanted opinions to themselves.”

“They don’t bully anyone, either,” Daphne added. “They’re cheerful and that trio of theirs is trouble _,_ but they also win more house points than any other year, and the professors like them, from what I can tell. I don’t know why yet, but Theo, I think they’re going to be important, someday.”

It was a strange thing to say, but Theo couldn’t quite dismiss it. The girls were only twelve years old, and they had already done so much; who knew what they would be able to do when they were older?

“Well, thankfully for us,” he smirked. “We happen to be on their good side.”

* * *

Malfoy had been watching them all day, Astoria had noticed. Ever since Victoria’s story that morning, the third and fourth year Slytherins had been staring at them strangely, as if they were waiting for something to happen.

Of course, the dark-haired girl had been too busy to notice; the group who had decided to follow tradition had fluttered around all day, making bread and braiding each other’s hair with Samhain-coloured flowers. Astoria knew that they had somehow gotten dozens of candles from the house elves, as well as enough sweets to last them a lifetime.

However, Astoria had been in the common room for hours on end, playing chess with Freya and finishing her Charms essay with the girl and the other second-years who had decided to stay inside. They had even gathered the first-years around them, asking them about their first two months and smiling happily when they spotted a Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor trying to act like they belonged in silver and green.

And through all of that, Malfoy watched on, gazing at Astoria thoughtfully and smirking smugly when she looked his way. The blond girl didn’t know _what_ he was up to, but by the time she sat down at the Gryffindor table for the Halloween feast, she was on edge and wanted nothing more than to hex someone into oblivion.

“Well, don’t you look cheerful,” Ginny teased as the others talked about their plans to lay out their bread for the spirits right after dinner. “Did Freya beat you at chess again?”

“She did,” Astoria grumbled, sticking her tongue out at the girl in question when she poked her arm playfully. “But that’s not it. Malfoy’s been acting strange all day, sending me weird looks and staring at us during lunch. I’d rather not have a repeat of last year happen with the first-years around.”

“Hmm,” Ginny hummed, casually looking towards the Slytherin table. “Now that you mention it, he does seem to be staring at Victoria a bit creepily.”

“Who’s staring at me creepily?” Victoria cut in, leaning over Poppy to talk to them. “Because if you’re talking about Malfoy, I noticed, and I think it’s _very_ unusual. On top of that, Max told me that he’d been gazing at you guys all day in the common room.”

“Glad to know I’m not going crazy,” Astoria sighed, slightly relieved. She had known Malfoy was acting strange, but still, it was nice to have her suspicions confirmed. “And to add to it all, my sister and Theo have been sending him worried looks all day. I don’t know what they’re all up to, but I really hope we can stay out of it.”

“Was he… Did he hear my story this morning?” Victoria asked, uncertainty colouring her tone. “Because I know that you guys said…”

“That would make sense,” Ginny nodded. “Your magic leaks out a bit when you’re talking about Magic, and if he noticed it, maybe he thought that you were worth his time now. Too bad that he’s not worth yours.”

Astoria snorted amusedly; the idea had merit, really. Malfoy had a _thing_ for power, just like so many purebloods, so it would make sense for him to jump onto Victoria as soon as he realised how much raw magic she had hidden beneath all those layers of Hufflepuff kindness and trusting smiles.

“Just ignore him, Ria,” Victoria said, rolling her eyes at Ginny. “If he tries to start trouble though, go tell my dad. He’s your Head of House, so he’ll have to do something, and we both know that he likes you more than he does Malfoy anyways.”

“Ooh, Victoria, you never did tell us who his favourite is,” Ginny grinned, bringing up a conversation that they had had one night when they were staying at Prince Cottage. “Does this mean that he likes Astoria more than he likes me? Because I find that offending. She burned his breakfast once!”

Astoria flushed darkly at the reminder; she had thought that the professor was going to cut her into pieces when he found out, but he had only chuckled and waved off her apologies. Still, it had been mortifying, and the blond girl had let her friends take care of meals after that.

“I still can’t believe that you guys spent part of your summer with our professor,” Scarlett said. “Does this mean that you saw him in his pyjamas? Because I would pay a lot to see a picture of that, and I mean a _lot_.”

They spent the rest of the feast discussing their summer with the professor and smirking at some of the more invasive questions. Ginny had apparently decided to start as many ridiculous rumours as she could, never outright answering anything, but suggesting enough that it made their yearmates burst out laughing and giggle as they tried to imagine their professor wearing floral tee-shirts and walking around with fluffy slippers.

It was fun and harmless, and by the time everyone split up to go back to their dorms, Astoria had mostly forgotten about Malfoy. The blond girl was sleeping in Slytherin alone with two of her usual dormmates and a few extra badgers that night, since the other three girls were rooming in Hufflepuff to follow the Olde Samhain traditions.

They had barely been in their dorms for half an hour when a prefect knocked on their door hurriedly and told them that they had to go back to the Great Hall. Poppy – who had swapped places with Scarlett for the night – asked if they should get dressed, but the sixth-year only ushered them out, telling them to hurry and be quiet.

The walk was spent in tense silence, and Astoria shivered as the cold evening air clung to her skin. Professor Snape met them at the entrance of the dungeons and looked over them, counting as fast he could and frowning at the second-years when he noticed the slight change in faces.

“Miss Greengrass,” he called out. “Do you know where all of your Slytherin yearmates are?”

“Yessir,” she said quickly. “Scarlett Lympsham, Nerissa Brody, and Nathan Picquery should be in the Hufflepuff dorms. We have Poppy Caxton, Rory Jones, and Marisol Hornby with us in exchange.”

The man nodded, clearly glad that although they insisted on sleeping wherever they wished, they at least stayed informed on who was where.

Five minutes later, the entire house found itself in the Great Hall, which was devoid of tables and instead held hundreds of purple sleeping bags. Astoria winced as she thought about how uncomfortable their night would be, but quickly looked around, seeing a few Hufflepuffs milling around. If the badgers had arrived, then her friends would be somewhere nearby.

“Astoria,” a voice hissed from her left. She turned around and smiled when she noticed her best friends, looking tired and rumpled and overall unhappy to have to spend the evening in close company with the entire school.

She nodded to her dormmates and made her way to the trio, trying not to feel self-conscious about her pyjamas. No number of sleepovers could have prepared her for a scenario like this one, and she dearly wished that there weren’t so many people around to see her in her most vulnerable state.

“We were worried about you,” Felicity whispered when she finally plopped down onto the sleeping bag next to the brunette. “You Slytherins were the last to arrive.”

“Never mind that,” Ginny said. “We’re just glad you’re here. Apparently, Sirius Black attacked the Fat Lady and got into Gryffindor Tower, so now we have to stay here all night. I don’t really understand why, since _surely_ , our dorms are just as safe, but well… Sometimes, our professors lack a bit of sense.”

The four girls giggled for a little bit, but Astoria could hear the slight hint of hysteria in their laughter as they tried to forget about the fact that a _mass murderer_ had broken into the castle that they called home for nine to ten months every year.

It took a while for everyone to settle down and for all of the prefects to silence everyone, but even then, as her friends fell asleep, Astoria couldn’t calm the anxiousness inside of her. She fidgeted and rolled over and glanced at the beautiful enchanted ceiling, but nothing worked.

She stayed awake for so long that she heard as the Headmaster and Professor Snape hissed to each other a few metres away from where the girls had decided to settle. From what she understood, they were discussing Lupin – or at least someone that Snape distrusted, so Lupin – and danger – Sirius Black, undoubtedly.

The conversation did very little to settle her nerves as she realised that even the adults didn’t know how Black had gotten in. Hadn’t Victoria said something about Potter being in danger? Black was the boy’s godfather, after all. Shouldn’t the security systems put in place be a little bit more… infallible, if that was the case? A chill settled inside of Astoria as she came to a terrifying conclusion.

If hundreds of dementors couldn’t keep Black out, what could?

(She didn’t get any sleep that night.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad to hear you all enjoyed the last update and that you're looking forward to more chapters. As I said, I'll be trying to update this fic as regularly as possible, but my sister (who edits this fic, bless her) and I are both at uni and therefore don't have endless supplies of time and energy. I hope you all understand that an update every week might not happen <3 That being said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> Love, Junie.


	8. The Marauder's Map

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

The weeks following Black’s break-in were tense and hard on the entire Hogwarts population. The first-years had been terrified, and it had taken days to assure them that they were still safe, but even the older students had started walking around in groups of minimum three – _just in case_ , they said, but Victoria knew that they were all afraid.

The only good thing that came out of Samhain’s events was that Malfoy was too worried about Black to pay attention to Victoria and her friends. In fact, it took him three weeks to approach her.

He had been sticking close to his yearmates; even his rivalry with the Golden Trio had been shoved to the backseat as the threat of a mass murderer and dementors finally hit him full force. Victoria had been perfectly fine with that, but of course, the fear couldn’t last forever.

“Snape,” the blond greeted her, smirking. “Care for a walk around the grounds?”

The dark-haired girl stared at him coolly, thinking fast. Next to her, Ginny had tensed, her hand reaching for her wand. Astoria and Felicity were facing away from Malfoy and had apparently decided that the best way to annoy him was to ignore him – it was often the solution, with people as vain as Malfoy.

“Is there any particular reason why you want us to go for a stroll with the dementors, Malfoy?” she finally asked, cocking her head to the side.

“I just thought that we might have some things to discuss,” the boy answered, feigning indifference – his tense shoulders betrayed him, of course, as did his calculating eyes. “And the castle is hardly the best place to have private conversations.”

“Indeed,” she admitted. “Although I’m not sure why you think that any conversation we could have is worth the risk of getting close to those things.”

“Scared, Snape?” the boy sneered – a pale imitation of the words he had snarled at Potter a year prior, the night of the duelling club. “I’d have thought that you’d be delighted to know that the heir to a noble family is even deigning to speak to you. Not many have been granted this much consideration.”

“It _is_ nice to see that my peers respect my position in society,” Victoria said sweetly, wondering if the boy even knew which family she belonged to. “Fine, if you wish to speak to me so desperately, then who am I to refuse?”

The boy smirked victoriously, and Victoria almost rolled her eyes. Boys were so immature sometimes, acting as though their mere presence was a gift to humanity. If Victoria hadn’t wanted to speak to Malfoy, she wouldn’t have; she certainly wasn’t doing it to win his favour. She just wanted the git to leave her friends and her alone.

“Alone, of course,” Malfoy added, curling his lip in Ginny’s direction.

The redhead flushed angrily but Victoria looked at her pleadingly; this wasn’t the time or place to start an argument. Besides, the black-haired girl could take care of herself, and her friends would hear all about this little conversation when it was over.

Ginny grit her teeth angrily but nodded at Victoria, knowing that this wasn’t a fight she would win. Astoria and Felicity didn’t seem pleased, but they bowed their heads slightly in agreement. Satisfied that none of her friends would try to follow her or curse Malfoy as soon as his back was turned, she let the blond boy lead her out of the Hall, through the entrance, and out into the cold November afternoon.

She was suddenly thankful to have grabbed her house scarf on the way out of the dorms, since it was much too cold to be leaving the school without it. Malfoy sent a dismissive look in the direction of her soft piece of clothing before walking further and further away from the castle.

“So, Malfoy, what do you want?” she asked, eager to deal with this entire thing as fast as possible. “Please tell me that you didn’t drag me out of there for no good reason.”

“It’s Heir Malfoy, you know, Snape,” the boy corrected her with a smug smile. “And of course I didn’t.”

“I didn’t know we were bothering with titles,” Victoria raised an eyebrow – by the way Malfoy paled slightly, she knew that she must have looked eerily like her father. “If that’s the case, you’ll have to use mine as well, _Heir Malfoy_. And you still haven’t told me what the goal of this little stroll is.”

“You have a title?” the boy asked incredulously. Victoria couldn’t help the small smirk that graced her face then. “I wasn’t aware. And I only wish to get to know you better; I always try to spend time with like-minded people.”

“I do,” she responded curtly; he’d have to try harder if he wanted her to tell him about her father’s place in society. “And I’d hardly say that we’re like-minded people, Malfoy. You look at my friends like they’re worth nothing, after all.”

The boy’s jaw twitched at her non-answer, and Victoria’s smirk widened. It was so funny to watch people like him get annoyed when they realised that not everyone was going to roll over obediently for them. He could try to push for a clearer response, but come off as rude, or he could stop speaking about their titles but learn nothing.

“Well, you mustn’t have been taught how to stay away from the wrong sort of people,” the boy finally continued, clearly settling for the most sensible option. Victoria was glad to see that Malfoy wasn’t completely idiotic. “I can hardly blame you for your lax education, now can I?”

Then again, maybe he _was_.

“And who _can_ you blame then, Malfoy?” she inquired quietly – dangerously. Her magic sparked right under her skin, rushing towards her fingertips as she waited for the boy’s answer. “My parents, perhaps? Is that what you’re trying to imply?”

“Of course not,” Malfoy stuttered, blanching as he realised his mistake. “I only meant to say that you must not have met the proper kind of families as a child if you decided to settle for a Weasley, a forgettable half-blood, and the _dullest_ Slytherin I’ve ever met. Really, you could do so much better.”

Victoria bristled at the insult to both her and her friends. How would Daphne react when she heard about this? When she realised that Malfoy had consciously slighted a member of her family? What did the boy think he was doing, coming to her and insulting the people she cared about?

“As much as I appreciate your… concern,” she drawled, eyes flashing icily. “I have to admit that I couldn’t care less about your opinion. My friends are fine just the way they are, thank you very much. Now, could you get to the point? And don’t tell me that you just want to get to know me again Malfoy, it’s pathetic.”

She didn’t know where she was finding all of this… Slytherin attitude, but she had to say that she was rather glad for it. It was just like that time with Lupin; a wave of cold ire had overwhelmed her, and she just couldn’t help herself. There were very few people who annoyed her, but those who did were absolute pains to deal with, and it seemed that she had a sharp tongue that rivalled her father’s when it came to them.

“I just want to know _where_ you got all of that magic from, Snape,” the boy replied a minute later, just as they reached the edge of the school’s wards. “And maybe form an alliance. You could use someone like me at your side, you know?”

“Are you quite sure about that, Malfoy?” Victoria asked curiously, deliberately ignoring his first useless question. “Because I’m not the one who dragged you out here to talk, I’m not the one who’s been staring at you all the time, and I’m certainly not the one who let myself be drawn in by your magic.”

“So what? You think you’re so much better than me, do you?” the boy snarled, sliding his wand out of its holster. “Do you even know how to defend yourself, Snape? Would you even stand a chance against me?”

“I don’t know Malfoy, would I?” Victoria smiled innocently. “I’ve never been beaten by a first-year girl after provoking her, have you?”

The change was immediate; the diplomacy that had smoothed the boy’s features vanished when Victoria mentioned his defeat at the hands of an eleven-year-old. His defeat at the hands of the _dullest Slytherin he had ever met_. The boy had no respect, and the wand he jabbed in her direction did little to improve her opinion of him.

Did he think she was afraid? Had he not just mentioned Victoria’s unusually high magical reserves? If he was going to use them to his advantage, he had to have considered that they could be turned against him just as easily. The black-haired girl might not have known how to control all of her power quite yet, but she knew enough to defend herself if he tried anything.

Just as the blond boy opened his mouth to cast his first spell, a shadow caught Victoria’s attention and her eyes widened in panic and sheer terror.

“Run, Malfoy,” she murmured. The boy cut himself off but didn’t move. Victoria took three steps backwards before repeating herself. “Run, Malfoy, _now!_ ”

Something in her voice must have given away the seriousness of the situation, because the boy took off running. Victoria was right behind him, cursing her heavy winter robes and barely noticing when her scarf was taken away by the wind. She ran and ran, wondering why they had walked so far away from the school. She lost sight of Malfoy, eventually, because for all that he was a terrible diplomat, he was also a Quidditch player with much better strength and stamina than a second-year girl who was still growing into her body.

She could feel the dementor catching up to her, and her heart sped up; her feet sped up; her mind sped up. She couldn’t keep up with herself, with her thoughts, with her body. The only thing she could focus on was the cold catching up to her, Darius’ voice ringing in her mind, and the horrible reminder that she didn’t know how to cast the spell.

There was a spell, she knew, and she racked her mind for it, but she didn’t _know it_. The dementor was so close, so close, and she wouldn’t be able to keep it away. So she kept running, knowing that she was almost there, that she just had to last a few moments more, a few seconds longer. She was crying, she believed, crying and heaving and barely breathing.

And then, right as the dementor caught up to her, right as she thought that she would never see the people she loved again, a bright light jumped in front of her and charged at the creature, making it screech and retreat.

She sobbed and retched, and when her father crouched down in front of her, she held onto his robes tightly and promptly passed out.

* * *

Severus’ hands trembled as he prepared four cups of hot chocolate and a single cup of tea.

He stood alone in his quarters’ kitchen for a moment longer, breathing in deeply and trying to ignore how fast his heart was beating. She was fine, he told himself. She was alive, sitting with her friends and waiting for him to get back to them. Still, fear stuck to his soul, and he suddenly hurried back to the main living space to check on his daughter.

She _was_ fine, smiling softly at her friends from her spot in her favourite armchair. She was wrapped in her favourite lavender quilt, fingers fidgeting with its edges as they always did. However, he could see her hands shaking, and he knew that her face had never been quite so pale before – except when she had been unconscious, a few metres away from Tom Riddle.

Her eyes flickered towards him when he walked in, and he relaxed minutely. The terror that he had seen in those midnight orbs an hour ago was mostly gone, leaving behind gratefulness and exhaustion.

“Drink,” he ordered, pushing a mug into her hands and looking at her sternly. Thankfully, she started sipping on the hot chocolate without protest, and within minutes, she looked less like she was about to pass out and more like the daughter that he knew and loved so much.

“What were you doing so far from the school?” he finally asked, letting all of his worry turn into cold disappointment. Victoria glanced his way, startled, and her friends frowned defensively, but he didn’t relent.

“Malfoy wanted to speak to me,” she sighed, playing with a loose strand of hair that had fallen out of her usually controlled braid. “I didn’t really pay attention to where he was leading us, and by the time I saw the dementors, we were at the very edge of the grounds. I told him to run, and he made it back in time, I think, but I’m not as fast as he is.”

Damned Malfoy. He had seen his daughter leave with the boy, of course, but he hadn’t thought that his Slytherin was going to put Victoria in danger. The blond was going to find himself with a surprising number of detentions very soon, and perhaps even a letter from his father.

“So you’re saying that the only reason the dementors got to you is because bloody Malfoy led you away from the castle and then _left you behind_?” Ginny Weasley was the one who spoke up first, her cheeks flushing angrily and her usually warm eyes sparkling furiously. “That boy is such a coward. What did he even want with you?”

Severus coughed gently, reminding the young redhead of his presence; she flushed darker in embarrassment but didn’t take anything back, her eyes narrowing towards him as though daring him to contradict her.

“Although your language leaves to be desired, Ginevra, I do agree with the sentiment,” he admitted, smirking at the girl. “Malfoy should not have left you alone, Victoria, especially if _he_ was the one who insisted on meeting with you outside. What was so important that he couldn’t discuss it with you inside of the castle?”

“That’s the worst part,” Victoria answered, her brows furrowing angrily. “Nothing. He babbled on about becoming allies, insulted my choice of friends, suggested that mum or you didn’t raise me right, and then asked me where all of my power came from. The whole conversation was pointless, and I think he only took us outside because he thought I would fawn all over him and beg him to accept me in his little group of… followers.”

“Really?” the brunette of the group raised her eyebrows, clearly surprised. “After all the staring and stalking and whispering with his friends, I thought for sure that he was going to confront you, not try to recruit _you_ or whatever it was that he was attempting earlier. Boys are so weird.”

That particular statement was met with three enthusiastic nods, and Severus couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I can assure you that Malfoy and most teenage boys think the exact same thing about girls,” he told them amusedly. “However, I agree that Draco’s behaviour has been rather… peculiar, so rest assured that I’ll be talking to him, and perhaps to Lucius as well.”

“That’s… good,” Victoria said softly. “But don’t be too hard on him, okay? He was probably just as scared as I was, and fear makes people act irrationally. You can punish him for taking us outside, but you can’t… you can’t punish him for leaving me behind, dad.”

“So, what?” he frowned deeply. “I should just let your schoolmates believe that they can leave you behind? That they can push you in front of danger without consequences? If punishing Malfoy is the only way to keep you safe, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“But it’s not!” his daughter protested vehemently, her eyes shining determinedly, and her hands clenched tightly around her mug. “Punishing him won’t do much, you know. I’m not going to stop going outside with the girls just because there are dementors around, so the same thing could happen again even without anyone to leave me behind. But if… if you taught us the spell to chase dementors away, then we’d never have to be afraid again.”

Severus looked at his daughter thoughtfully; she wasn’t wrong, he knew. He could forbid her from leaving the castle, but that would only result in anger and disobedience. He could punish Malfoy, but although it would set an example of what he expected when it came to Victoria, it wouldn’t do much else. The Patronus, though…

“That’s hardly second-year material, Victoria,” he pointed out. “I wouldn’t be… opposed to teaching the four of you about it, but there are some adults who can’t cast it. It takes a huge amount of power and control over your emotions, and even then, not everyone succeeds.”

“We’ve got power,” his daughter pouted. “I overheard Potter and his friends saying that Lupin was going to teach him, and he’s got about as much power as I do, so why can’t I try?”

It was rare to see Victoria acting so childish, and Severus couldn’t decide whether he found it annoying or endearing. The girl looked so hopeful, and even her friends had turned wide eyes towards him. Clearly, there was no way that he was going to get out of this brand-new teaching experience.

“Fine,” he huffed. Victoria cheered, sloshing hot chocolate onto the carpet and smiling at him sheepishly when he narrowed his eyes at their now-dirty rug. “But if we’re going to do this, I want you to _promise me_ that you won’t practise by yourselves. The spell isn’t dangerous, but it’s extremely tiring, and I don’t want you to pass out in an empty classroom, understood?”

“Yes, dad!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Ideally, we would practise here, after my office hours,” he pondered. “However, I don’t want the four of you getting into trouble with prefects or professors if our lessons run late, and I’m not sure that a note from me would be worth much, since everyone knows that Victoria is my daughter.”

“I think I can help with that,” Ginevra grinned excitedly. “My brothers, the twins, have something… A way of getting around the castle unnoticed. I’m pretty sure that with a bit of time and plenty of help, I could… relieve them of such an object. Would that be enough?”

Of course those blasted twins had something to help them with their pranks. It wouldn’t surprise Severus to learn that Potter had something similar as well. Those three Gryffindors were the bane of every professor’s existence. Minerva knew that they weren’t in their dorm, but she had admitted that catching them was impossible even then.

“The idea has merit,” he told the girl, smiling slightly when she beamed proudly. “In the meantime, I expect all of you to read up on the spell and its execution.”

“Do you think there’s even a chance that we’ll be able to cast it, sir?” Astoria asked quietly.

He looked at the quartet in front of him, all staring at him with wide and hopeful eyes. Victoria, with her huge heart and magic that felt like waves of ice. Ginevra, with sparks of power that burned hotter than fire and her determination to succeed. Felicity, with her sharp mind and steady but strong magic. Astoria, with power that smelled of eagerness and an endless ambition to be great.

“I’ll only say this once, girls, so listen carefully,” he told them seriously. “I wouldn’t have agreed to these lessons if I didn’t think that there was a chance. I’ve spent enough time around all of you to know what your magic feels like, and I know just as well as you do that you all have power. You are probably the most powerful witches in your year, and you all excel academically. If you can control your minds and find a strong enough memory, I promise you that you will all succeed.”

He didn’t know how he had expected the girls to react; he knew that they weren’t vain – although at least two of them were quite prideful when they wanted to be – but still, he had thought that they would’ve… Well, he wasn’t sure. Smirked smugly, as Malfoy would have? Preened, as Potter so often did?

Instead, he found himself with an armful of black hair, followed by red and brown and finally blond. His daughter was a lot more enthusiastic than the other three, but he was surprised that they had even hugged him at all _,_ so their restraint wasn’t shocking.

“Thanks, dad,” Victoria said softly, her face hidden in his robes. “We’ll do our best to make you proud.”

And when he stepped away only to be faced with four sets of eyes full of steel, he had no doubt that they would.

* * *

Felicity grinned at the small group that had gathered in one of Hogwarts’ many empty classrooms. It had taken her a few days to find a time that would work for everyone, but finally, as December dawned, she had managed to organize a meeting with her three best friends as well as Nerissa, Scarlett, Rory, and Poppy.

“So, why are we here?” Rory asked animatedly. “Do you need our help with a prank? In search of a distraction, maybe?”

“Something like that,” Felicity smirked. “Ginny has recently told us that your favourite twins have an object that we need for a… project of sorts. It’s supposed to make sneaking around the castle a lot easier, which would explain the twins’ success at staying out of trouble. If you help us come up with a way to get this object off of them, we’ll make sure that you can also have access to it.”

Their prankster trio, along with Poppy – their voice of reason, who did most of the research but rarely participated in the actual acts of mischief-making – grinned wolfishly.

“Well then, how could we refuse such a tempting offer? Especially coming from our favourite quartet,” Nerissa told them, her eyes alight with playfulness. “So, what exactly is this object that we’re looking for?”

“A map,” Ginny explained. “They told Ron and I that it’s just a spare piece of parchment, but I followed them at some point last year, and all it took was a password to reveal the map. Of course, I didn’t actually see it, but they used it to find their way around the castle, so I can’t imagine what else it could be.”

“Just a map?” Rory asked, clearly slightly disappointed. Felicity rolled her eyes at the boy; really, this was why she preferred having girl friends. Boys always jumped to conclusions too fast to get the full explanation.

“Of course not, idiot,” the brunette shoved the boy harmlessly. “We wouldn’t be going after a map if that was all it was. Ginny thinks that the map has a way of warning students when a professor is heading their way.”

“And not just professors,” the redhead continued. “You could avoid Filch, Peeves, Mrs. Norris… You all know that my brothers never get caught, so this map has to be worth _something_. Besides, even if it just shows a bunch of secret passages, that’s already quite useful.”

“Right,” Scarlett nodded. “Do they ever leave it in their dorms?”

“I don’t think so,” Ginny sighed. “Which means that our best bet is to do something that’ll make everyone in Gryffindor run out suddenly, so fast that they’ll leave the map behind.”

“Sounds good to me,” Nerissa beamed. “We’ll come up with something. Does this evening work for you?”

Felicity raised her eyebrows at the quick response and wondered if the trio had a stock of pranks in their minds that they pulled out when they felt like having a bit of fun. Nevertheless, she nodded, pleased that they would be getting the map so soon – if everything went well, of course.

“Oh, and Felicity?” Rory smirked. “You’re coming with us.”

Which was how she found herself in the transfiguration classroom near Gryffindor tower five hours later, standing uncertainly with the three second-year pranksters. Her friends were studying inside the common room, waiting for the diversion with Poppy – who, alongside Astoria, had been chosen to look for the map.

Felicity wasn’t sure what the plan was exactly, but as she watched Scarlett wave her wand around, she wasn’t sure that she wanted to be part of it. She had asked why they couldn’t just set off an explosion and had promptly been told that pointless explosions were a no-go. Apparently, creative pranks were less likely to end with detention than undeserved destruction of property, which… made sense, really.

“Okay Felicity, listen up,” Nerissa beckoned her closer. “Sorry that we had to drag you into this, but four wands will _definitely_ be better than three for this. You told us that we needed to make as much noise as possible, which means that we need as much magic as we can get. Now, here’s the plan.”

The plan, as it turned out, wasn’t overly complicated. The trio quickly explained that the hard part about pranks was almost always the research, and very rarely the execution. It often took them – or Poppy, most likely – weeks, and sometimes even months, to find the spell or potion that they would need to create proper chaos.

It turned out that the three of them had had this particular prank in mind for months but had never really had a reason to go through with it, since McGonagall was fair and strict and no one wanted to get on her bad side.

There was only one thing that bothered Felicity about the woman’s classroom, and apparently that was the target of their prank for the day. Where most of the room was neutral and sparsely decorated, the front wall was covered in Gryffindor trinkets; flags, badges, jumpers, there were gold and red lions everywhere.

And of course, since they were Gryffindor animals, they tended to roar obnoxiously whenever they felt like it, often scaring the hell out of the student who had ended up closest to the professor’s desk. Clearly, Felicity wasn’t the only one who was sick of having to sit in the third row so that McGonagall’s voice could drown out the animals.

To get rid of the problem, her three friends had looked up a spell that would take the lions out of the objects and transform the images into reality. They assured Felicity that the animals would be completely harmless, but numerous and big enough that the roaring would echo through the halls and all the way to Gryffindor tower.

She retorted by saying that it would make even more noise if they found a way to make the lions leave the classroom and walk towards the common room instead. Of course, this had shifted the plan slightly, but fifteen minutes later, the four second-years were ready for their performance.

Breathing in deeply, Felicity focused on the spell that Nerissa had taught her and let it slip past her lips as soon as the blond girl signalled for them to get started. She cast it over and over until all of the items were devoid of lions and a group of twenty felines stood in front of them, roaring confusedly.

At least Scarlett had been right when she had said that the animals wouldn’t be interested in eating them, or things would have turned out quite differently.

It only took them an extra minute to lure the lions out of the classroom and into the hallway with pieces of meat brought to them by the house elves – who had shaken their heads exasperatedly but had ultimately given in to their request.

As soon as they were out in the open, Felicity and her friends hurried away from the scene, taking refuge in a classroom further down the hall. When they heard screaming and panicked shouting, they smirked at each other victoriously. Part one of the plan was successful. Now they only had to hope that the twins would fall into their trap and conveniently forget their map.

They were joined by Ginny and Victoria a few minutes later, and finally, by Astoria and Poppy, who slipped into the abandoned classroom with triumphant looks on their faces and a piece of innocent-looking parchment in their hands.

“And that, my friends,” Felicity grinned. “Is what we call teamwork.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Thank you so much for reading! I'm so sorry it took me so long to upload this chapter, I thought it wasn't edited yet when it's actually been ready for almost a month >.< Good news though, the next chapter is also ready to be posted so that'll probably be going up soon! The next two chapters are centred around Yule, so the timing honestly couldn't get any better. Once again, I hope you all understand that my sister and I are both busy with our upcoming finals and our doing our best to stay on top of things. 
> 
> Love, Junie.


	9. Yule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy late Christmas everyone!

As all of her best friends left the castle for the Christmas holidays, Ginny found herself extremely grateful for the Marauder’s Map – as named by its creators, four boys with ridiculous nicknames.

The Weasley children had received a letter a few days before the start of the holidays, telling them that their mother had gotten sick and had had to go to the hospital for a few days. Deciding that their mum didn’t need the extra stress, their father had told them to stay at Hogwarts and to spend some time with their friends instead. If only the girls hadn’t all gone home for the Yule festivities.

Ginny sighed and looked over the map again, enjoying the power that it gave her over her brothers. It hadn’t taken her long to realise that Ron and Harry hardly spent any time inside of the tower, even at night, and that the twins knew all of the secret passages from the map by heart.

Then there was a pair of older students – whom she had discovered were Ravenclaws – that snuck into the library every night for reasons that Ginny didn’t want to think about – she hadn’t even known that the dots could overlap like that!

She had even found out that there was a secret passage that led out of Hogwarts; the discovery had bothered her a little bit, but she couldn’t figure out _why_.

However, as entertaining as watching the students – or professors – come and go was, Ginny was bored. The holidays had only started three days ago, but she already found herself wishing for them to end. The freezing weather made flying impossible – although Ginny had decided to wait another year before trying out, she still loved the feeling of rushing through air – and the snow had been fun for a few seconds but was now mostly inconvenient.

On top of that, she had done all of the research that she could on the Patronus charm and thought that she had the perfect memory but couldn’t try it out because the professor was gone. She hadn’t even known that professors were allowed to leave, but apparently since someone volunteered to look after the Slytherin students, Victoria and her dad were allowed to spend the holidays wherever they wanted to.

So, she was all alone. She had completed her homework in less than a day, had strolled around the grounds until her fingers felt like they were about to fall off, had played countless games of chess with the few second-years who remained at Hogwarts, had snuck down to the kitchens a plethora of times, and had eventually realised that she was going to go insane without anyone around to keep her company.

Therefore, when Harry Potter himself walked into the common room all by himself – no Ron in sight – Ginny was actually tempted to talk to the boy.

The thing was, when he had stayed at their house before her first-year, she had been more than a little enamoured and had barely squeaked a hello at him every morning before running away. The two of them had never spoken, because Ginny had been much too shy. Now, however, well… She had been around Potter often enough to realise that there wasn’t anything particularly special about him.

He was soft-spoken and kind to his friends, but the redhead also knew that her brother and him couldn’t stand Slytherins and always looked at Astoria and Victoria suspiciously when they slept over with the Gryffindors. The boy barely had any friends apart from Ron and Granger, and he seemed to fade into the background easily until something either great or terrible happened, and then it was _Potter this_ and _Potter that_.

Mind made up, Ginny walked over to the messy-haired boy and sat down on the armchair across from the one he had settled in.

“Potter,” she greeted him politely.

“Um, Ginny, hi,” he stuttered, looking at her with wide eyes. “You can call me Harry, you know?”

And she knew, really, but after spending so much time with people who followed tradition and used first names as a sign of friendship, Ginny found it strange to meet someone who called her by her nickname so easily. If the boy had been a first-year, maybe she could have understood, but from a 13-year-old, it just felt weird.

Merlin, her friends had truly changed her.

“Right,” she finally said, aware that she must have been staring at him blankly for at least thirty seconds. “So, what’re you up to?”

“Um, nothing much,” the boy answered with a shrug. “I was thinking about doing my homework, but really, why do the professors even give us things to do over the holidays? It’s not like anyone’s able to focus, except maybe Hermione. And I can’t go flying, because the weather’s so bloody awful. Really, there isn’t much to do here. What… what about you?”

“Well, I’m here talking to you, aren’t I, Po- Harry,” Ginny said with a slight smirk – an expression she had definitely picked up from Felicity and Victoria, and maybe even from Professor Snape. “I’m probably even more bored than you are. Don’t you have my brother to entertain you?”

“Well, Ron’s been a bit… he’s worried about his rat,” Potter sighed. Was he talking about _Scabbers_? The only time Ginny ever thought about that creature was when she wondered if it would ever die. “Hermione’s cat has been going after him all term, so Ron’s been in a mood all the time.”

“Ah, I see,” Ginny laughed. “You’re hiding from him because you don’t want to hear him complain again, is that right?”

The boy spluttered, as though thinking that Ginny would be offended on behalf of her brother.

“Oh, relax, Potter,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m hardly one to judge; I certainly haven’t spent any time with my brothers during the holidays. Besides, my kitten hates his rat as well; the only reason she hasn’t tried anything is because she’s too small for now.”

“Right, yeah,” the dark-haired boy said, his shoulders relaxing as he realised that Ginny wasn’t going to hex him or anything like that. “And what about you? Have all of your friends gone home?”

“Yeah, unfortunately,” Ginny pouted. “They’re all celebrating Yule with their families this year though, so I can’t blame them for leaving. I just wish that I could have gone back home, or even to one of their houses; I bet they all have the prettiest places in the wintertime.”

“… Yule?” Potter asked tentatively.

It occurred to Ginny, then, that the boy really didn’t know much about Wizarding traditions. Sure, the Weasleys didn’t respect them, but at least they knew what they were; hadn’t any of his dormmates talked about it? Even Ron could have mentioned it, if only to complain about the purebloods again.

“Christmas, but wizard style,” she summarised, wincing as she thought about how mad Felicity and Victoria would be if they heard her talking about their holidays that way. “For the families that follow tradition, at least. My parents don’t really care about them, and Granger wouldn’t know about them in detail either, which is probably why you’ve never heard about all of that.”

“Oh…” the boy clearly didn’t know what to do with that information, and really, how had Ginny ever thought that he was some kind of superhero who would save them all?

Sure, he had survived the Killing Curse, and he probably had a good amount of magic, and she didn’t think that he was stupid, but he was such a _boy_ , just like all the others. He liked Quidditch and didn’t care about schoolwork, he snuck out at night with his friends, and when he received new information, he gaped and acted like a baby bird who had just been pushed out of the nest.

“Right,” she murmured, before clearing her throat. “So, how’s Quidditch going? Wood must be wearing you all out, after that match with the dementors.”

“It’s going good, but yeah, Oliver’s absolutely mental,” Potter groaned. “I still can’t believe that I fell off my broom. Malfoy’s never going to let me forget about it, especially not if it happens again.”

“It could have happened to anyone,” Ginny pointed out. “I don’t know if I would have managed to stay on my broom either with a hundred dementors out for my blood. Besides, Malfoy’s an idiot, just focus on staying closer to the other players next time.”

“Yeah, that’s what Wood’s been telling me,” the boy sighed, before perking up. “Say, you don’t happen to play Quidditch, do you?”

And so, even though the conversation was far from riveting, Ginny still found herself chatting with Potter about Quidditch and flying for an hour, admitting that she would be trying out for the team and teaching the boy about teams _other_ than the Chudley Cannons.

* * *

_Dear Ginny,_

_How are your holidays going so far? I’m sorry that none of us were able to stay with you, but I hope that you’re exploring the castle with the map and that you’ve found people to talk to in our absence._

_I’m sending your first gift along with this letter, so please tell me what you think about it! I got it in France during the summer, and since I already had your birthday gift, I thought that I’d save it for Yule._

_Honestly, holidays at the manor aren’t as interesting as they used to be. My parents are hardly there, and my siblings are too busy with their own lives to spend time with me. The manor isn’t as big as Hogwarts, but it feels so empty now that I know what life is like at Prince Cottage or at the Burrow. I think next year I’ll try to convince my parents to let me stay at Hogwarts._

_On a more serious note, I think something’s going on at the Ministry. My dad’s been muttering about rumours every night, and my mum’s been acting even more distant than usual. Whatever it is, it’s putting people on edge. Hopefully the other girls will know more about it._

_What about you, any news? Any secrets that you’ve uncovered? I can’t wait to hear about all of it; keep us updated!_

_Sincerely,_

_Astoria_

_***_

_Dear Ginny,_

_Potter, really? I hope he didn’t bore you to death, but I’m not holding my breath; we both know that teenage boys are weird and a little bit single-minded. At least you haven’t started spending all of your time with your brothers; that’d be the beginning of insanity, I’m afraid._

_Pythagoras should have brought along your Yule gifts. I know it’s a bit early, but since you don’t really follow the traditions anyway… Well, I thought you’d appreciate whatever entertainment you could get. The books I sent aren’t the most interesting ones out there, but they’re still quite nice! Hopefully, you’ll enjoy them. And if not, at least you should like the other gift, even if you can’t use it right now._

_Anyways, I’m sure Astoria’s already told you that there are rumours going around the Ministry, right? We still haven’t figured out what they are, but we’re trying our best to… overhear our parents’ conversations. The problem is that my dad hardly ever speaks about work at home, since my mum wouldn’t understand most of it._

_Still, I’m sure we’ll manage! After all, mysteries are our forte, aren’t they? Talking about mysteries, that passage you told me about sounds interesting, although you are right that it’s a bit strange… I wonder if the professors know it exists. Maybe… Maybe we should tell Professor Snape about it, just in case? Tell me what you think._

_Anyways, stay strong, I know it’s only been a few days, but the holidays will be over before you know it!_

_Love,_

_Felicity_

_***_

_Dear Ginny,_

_I would ask about your holidays, but your letter makes me believe that the questions really wouldn’t be welcome. I’m sorry to hear that the most interesting thing that’s happened is your brother’s rat acting strangely and the twins frantically looking for the map – although that is an entertaining visual._

_Yule at Prince Cottage is even better than Yule at Hogwarts. My dad and I decorated the whole place, and he finally let me bake things for the neighbours! They’re all super nice, and some of them are wizards too! There’s this one lady who works at the Ministry and who gossips about her co-workers when my dad isn’t around. There’s definitely some kind of rumour going around, but still no luck in finding out what. Whatever it is, they’re trying to hush it up._

_I know the girls probably already sent a gift along, but my family’s traditions are a little bit different, so I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer for mine! Don’t worry though, the wait will be worth it!_

_If you ever feel like getting some peace and quiet, dad says that you can use his quarters whenever you want. The password for the holidays is snowflake (I know, very unlike my dad, but he’s full of surprises, and no one would ever figure it out). Just don’t make a mess of things._

_Hoping to hear from you soon,_

_With love,_

_Victoria_

* * *

Prince cottage was even more beautiful during the winter than during the summer. A thin layer of snow covered everything, from their house to the trees to the beach in the distance.

Victoria admired it all from inside, wrapped in blankets and savouring dozens of cups of tea and hot chocolate per day – courtesy of her father. Spending Yule at home, with a parent who cared about her and was doing everything he could to teach her about their family’s traditions, was amazing.

Every evening, when they were exhausted from a day of baking and visiting neighbours and brewing, they would sit down in the living room, light the fire, and her father would tell her a story about his childhood – or his years at Hogwarts, it depended on his mood. Those tales were her favourite part of the day, and she quickly realised that she had gotten her storytelling skills from the man. He spoke just as passionately as she always did, and it warmed her heart to find another thing that the two of them had in common.

As she waited for him to finish cleaning the kitchen, she wondered what story he would tell her that night. She had to admit that she was a little bit more curious about his time at Hogwarts than his time before, especially since she actually knew the other people in his stories about school – Dumbledore and McGonagall and Lupin, as well as many of her classmates’ parents or uncles or other relatives.

And of course, there was the fact that their neighbour, Mrs. Fawcett, had told her earlier that day that the rumours flying around at the Ministry were about Black. Victoria knew that her father had gone to school with the man, and she was itching to ask about him, but… She couldn’t exactly start a conversation about Black for no good reason, could she? So she was waiting, patiently, for the day when the potions master would finally mention the crazy man.

“Any requests for tonight?” her father asked as he entered the room and placed two steaming cups of tea on their coffee table. “We finished eating earlier than usual, so we might even have the time for two stories.”

“Really?” Victoria asked excitedly. “That’s great! Could you tell me more about your time at Hogwarts, please?”

“Of course you’d be curious about school,” the man huffed, but agreed easily. “Let’s see… Well, I haven’t told you about the first Yule that I spent at Hogwarts, have I? I actually didn’t stay at school during the break until my fourth year. Before that, Lily’s parents had always asked us to come back, and neither of us had been able to refuse. But that year, they were on a trip somewhere, so we finally got to celebrate Yule – or Christmas, in Lily’s case – at the castle.”

Lily Evans was a main character in almost all of her father’s stories, and Victoria had eventually understood that the girl was actually Lily _Potter_ , which was all kinds of strange – but also explained a lot of things.

“See, at the time, Yule was still celebrated openly. The professors didn’t mind at all, and some of them even joined us. Of course, Albus never did, since he was fervently in favour of leaving our traditions to each student’s discretion, but still, plenty of participants. I convinced Lily to spend the Solstice with me and a group of other traditionalists. It was a wonderful day, made even sweeter by the looks on the Gryffindors’ faces when they realised that I had ‘corrupted’ one of their own. The house tensions were even stronger back then, which meant that my friendship with Lily was viewed with suspicion by everyone around us.”

Victoria wanted to say something then, maybe reprimand her father for perpetuating the rivalries between the houses, but… He had tried, hadn’t he? He had stayed friends with Lily even when she had been sorted into Gryffindor, which was more than some people did. Still, it was hard to remember that her father had once been young enough to _care_ about the house divisions at all.

“It’s quite fascinating to see your Gryffindor friends agree to follow the traditions, you know. Some of them come from old families, of course, but the lions are hardly known for their respect of the Olde Ways. The rituals and rules are too rigid for a lot of them, which means that they end up mocking our festivities instead. I’m glad that your efforts at unity have led your yearmates to understand our world and beliefs better than most.”

She was glad too; glad to see muggleborns like Nerissa show genuine interest for the traditions that had been passed down through generations, and glad to see purebloods like Ginny accept everyone, no matter what they believed.

“Dad,” she finally cut in, looking down at her hands. “When you… When you talk about your Gryffindor classmates, do you mean all of them, or just Lupin and Black and whoever else they were friends with?”

Her father glanced at her sharply, almost as though he hadn’t thought that she would find the courage to ask him something like that. Honestly, she hadn’t thought she’d be able to do it either, but curiosity was eating at her soul, and she had to know. She had to understand why he hated them so much, why he looked at Lupin like he was just as bad as a mass murderer, why his eyes turned _haunted_ when he spoke about his years at Hogwarts.

“Look, dad,” she murmured. “I love your stories, I really do. Lily sounds like she was an amazing friend, and hearing about our family is always great, but… I want to understand you, dad. I want to make sure that I haven’t been acting borderline disrespectful to Lupin for no reason, and I want to be able to defend you to people when they ask me about you.”

“So Lupin was right, then? You _have_ been purposefully getting on his nerves?”

“Sort of,” Victoria shrugged, looking out of the window as snowflakes started falling gently from the sky. “Mostly, I just want to learn as much as I can about Magic; it’s my favourite thing in the world, after all. Lupin’s our teacher, so I ask him tons of questions because I want the answers, but… Maybe I’d be a little bit less insistent if our professor was someone different. It’s not completely my fault, though! He always looks at me like I’ve done something wrong, and he can barely even say my name without stuttering, dad.”

“I’m not saying that I disagree with what you’re doing, Victoria; in fact, I find it quite flattering. But you said it yourself: you have no idea why Lupin and I dislike each other, so what if I’m in the wrong? Would you still defend me then?”

“Of course I would! You’re my dad, and I know that you wouldn’t hate him for no good reason. However, it would make things easier if you just explained what happened. I’m not going to stop loving you just because of that, you know?”

Her father sighed heavily and shook his head, and he looked so dejected that Victoria regretted even bringing up the topic of Black and Lupin.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have –”

“I never got along with them,” the dark-haired girl snapped her mouth shut as her father started speaking again. “They were the perfect Gryffindors; Black, Lupin, Potter, and Pettigrew. They were beacons of light and could never do anything wrong, no matter how cruel they were to other students. Albus let them get away with more than even Potter Junior does, and the other professors followed his lead. I was a Slytherin, and a poor one at that, so when I ‘stole’ one of their housemates, the four boys decided that I was the most ideal target. Don’t pity me, though, because I gave as good as I got. I may have been outnumbered, but I was cunning where they were mostly rash, and I used that to my advantage.”

The man stopped for a moment, eyes glazing, and Victoria wondered what he was remembering. She wished that she could take away all the hurt that he had had to deal with in his life, and she knew that he felt the same way about her. She wasn’t sure that they had a normal parent-child relationship, but she liked the way they worked, and her only regret was that she wasn’t old enough to understand everything yet.

“Potter… I hated him for stealing Lily away from me and for humiliating me, but he wasn’t… He wasn’t as cruel as Black was. It doesn’t mean that looking at his son isn’t hard, but I’d rather have a mini Potter around than a mini Black. That man… Albus insisted that he was just too young to understand the consequences of his own actions, but it doesn’t change the fact that he tried to kill me. He led me to Lupin’s hideout on a full moon and left me to die. I hate him for that, I hated Potter for saving me, and I hate Lupin for having watched from a distance without doing anything. I’m a vengeful man, sweetheart, and I’m so happy to see you thrive at school, because the last thing I want to see is you turning into another version of – oh, don’t cry, Victoria, never for me.”

But she _was_ crying, Victoria realised. There were tears streaking down her face and desperate sobs threatening to tear through her throat. Years before she had been born, her father had almost died, and Dumbledore had let one of the men responsible for that event come back to the school. Lupin shouldn’t have been a student at Hogwarts in the first place, and he should _definitely_ have been expelled after that.

Her father wasn’t the kindest man alive, she knew that, but she couldn’t believe that a bunch of schoolboys had tried to murder him because of his house or jealousy or whatever else had been going through their minds.

“I’m,” she hiccupped, her voice struggling to get out. “I’m _so happy_ you’re alive, dad. They should have been punished for that, expelled or sent to Azkaban, at least, but now you have to work with one of them. You have to work with the werewolf who almost killed you and look out for the man who planned everything. How do you even sleep at night?”

She was sobbing earnestly now, looking at her dad through blurred tear-filled eyes and wondering if she would ever be able to look at Lupin again. It was no wonder that the werewolf stuttered when he said her name; he had once almost ended her father’s life, and now there she was, alive and breathing and proof that he hadn’t succeeded.

“So do you understand, now, why you have to be careful around Lupin, and why we’re all so worried about Black’s breakout?” her father asked her softly, wrapping his arms around her carefully. “Those two men are dangerous, and even more so where you’re concerned, sweetheart. Promise me that you’ll tell me if Lupin ever does something suspicious, or if you even think that Black is on school grounds.”

“I promise.”

* * *

_Dear Victoria,_

_I’m sorry_ what _?? Please tell me that I read that wrong and that you didn’t just tell me that Lupin is a werewolf! Especially not a werewolf who almost killed your father! Is the headmaster insane? Don’t answer that, we already know that he is. But still… I can’t believe this._

_And Black was involved as well? Please be careful once we’re back at Hogwarts, Victoria, who knows what Black has in mind. I don’t want you getting hurt just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time._

_I’m glad that your father told you about this, but I hope you’re doing okay… I know that even though you’ve only known him for a little over a year, you love him as much as I love my dad, and I can’t imagine how I would react if I found out that he’d been relentlessly bullied as a teenager. Stay strong, Victoria, and don’t let it bring you down._

_My father still refuses to tell me about the rumours at the Ministry, so I hope you’ve had more luck on your side of things. Black is involved, that’s for sure, but I still don’t understand why it’s got everyone so worried. I mean, he’s already escaped, right? What could be worse than that?_

_I also don’t think that I’ll be learning much more, because my dad caught on to me and told me to stay out of it. He’ll know if I still try to eavesdrop on his conversations or go through his stuff, so you guys are going to have to figure it out without my help, unfortunately._

_On a brighter note, Pythagoras should have sent along your second gift. I’m sorry it’s late, but it took a while to find… Hopefully you’ll like it enough that the wait will have been worth it!_

_Love,_

_Felicity_

_PS: are we going to tell Astoria about Professor Lupin?_

_***_

_Victoria,_

_So, after you sent me that letter about Lupin, I sent one to Bill asking about why a person might be scared of werewolves. Like, scared enough for it to be their worst fear, and the answer I got back was unexpected and… sadly useful._

_He started by saying that werewolves are quite a common fear, but since I specified that Astoria – I didn’t use her name, but you understand what I mean – was_ terrified _of them, he went a bit further and told me that when he was still at Hogwarts, a student had been killed by a werewolf. Not on school grounds, but well… I started thinking that maybe Astoria’s fear was because she had also lost someone to a werewolf._

_I was right, as much as I wish I hadn’t been. I looked in the library, and there was an article about the student who was killed. His name was Alexander Greengrass, and he was Astoria’s older brother. Apparently, one of his sisters was there when he died, so it’s possible that…_

_Well, you know what I mean._

_I’m glad you talked to Felicity and I before sending a letter to Astoria about Lupin’s condition. I think it would be smarter for us to tell her in person, or maybe to ask your father for his opinion. I just… I don’t want to keep her out of this like they kept you out of the diary situation, but I don’t want her to get hurt either._

_Tell me what you think about it and keep me updated on the rumours about Black as well. Life at the castle is still dull, but at least the Christmas feast should be amazing…_

_I can’t wait to see you guys again, I miss you._

_Love,_

_Ginny_

_***_

_Dear Victoria,_

_Happy solstice! How does it feel to be celebrating Yule at home rather than at the castle? Is it better or just different? Have you discovered even more Prince traditions? Do you follow the traditions with your neighbours as well?_

_I know that we’ve all been a bit down since we found out that Black once tried to kill your father, but I hope you aren’t letting it get to you too much! They’ll catch him soon, and then it’ll all be over. Besides, you have an army of second-years ready to defend you, and soon we’ll have our Patroni to protect us!_

_I can’t say that I’m not curious about this secret that you mentioned in your last letter, but if the girls and you think that it’s better to tell me in person, then I’ll be patient. Does it have to do with Black? Have you figured out what the rumour is? Because I’m dying to know about that, and my father doesn’t seem to have a_ clue _!_

_Other than that, things here are the same as they always are. I spend most of my time with Daphne or Thomas, since our parents are so busy, but they both took the day off tomorrow, so that should be nice! Still… Maybe next year we could all stay at the castle over the holidays and celebrate Yule all together? It would be wonderful, don’t you think?_

_Sincerely,_

_Astoria_

* * *

Astoria had been playing chess with her sister – one of their only ways of passing time – when one of their house elves announced that they had guests and that they should stay in their bedrooms until they were asked to leave.

Daphne shrugged elegantly once the little creature disappeared, used to the orders, but Astoria was tempted to sneak out and try to eavesdrop on her parents’ conversation. Maybe their guest would know more about the rumours that had been flying around the Ministry, and maybe they would finally talk about them. The girls didn’t understand why everyone seemed to know about the rumour’s existence but not what the rumour _was_.

“You’ve got that look in your eyes, Astoria,” her sister sighed. “The one that means you’re about to do something that I won’t approve of.”

“I have no idea what you mean,” the younger girl said innocently, turning wide eyes towards Daphne and grinning at her sister’s unimpressed stare. “It’s not like I’m going to get caught.”

Just as Daphne opened her mouth to answer, the door to the older girl’s bedroom was nearly taken off its hinges as an unwelcome guest slammed into the room with a smug smile and malicious eyes. Astoria groaned and earned herself a pointed nudge in the ribs for her troubles.

“Good afternoon, Daphne,” Malfoy smirked, before glancing coolly at Astoria, not bothering to greet her.

The boy had refused to acknowledge any of the second-years ever since the dementor incident. He hadn’t even thanked Victoria for her warning, and he certainly hadn’t tried to approach any of them with talk of ‘alliances’ again. Clearly, he had understood that his advances were not appreciated and had decided to save himself the work and embarrassment.

“And to you too, Draco,” Daphne answered, a polite smile gracing her features.

For all that the sisters had been raised together, it was sometimes glaringly obvious that Daphne, as the heiress, had received extra tutoring that Thomas and Astoria hadn’t had to participate in. The younger girl was shy, yes, but polite? Well, she could be, when she thought that it would benefit her. Malfoy had powerful parents, but he had nothing on Victoria, so Astoria would take her chances and simply ignore the boy.

“Right, well, I’m off,” she told the pair of third-years, smiling mischievously when Daphne’s eyes narrowed in her direction. Really, Malfoy’s arrival had been perfect timing, and also indicated that their guests should definitely have information on the rumours.

After all, if Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy didn’t know what was going on, then who would?

It took her less than five minutes to find the parlour that the adults had settled in, and then barely a minute to find the perfect spying spot. So, maybe she had done this quite a few times in the last five years; who could blame her? Living in a huge manor with absent parents and annoying siblings was utterly boring, at times, and once she had realised that eavesdropping on conversations wasn’t as hard as Daphne had made it out to be, no one had been able to stop her.

“… were worried about the girls, but it seems that Black truly _is_ after the Potter boy,” Astoria’s mother was saying. “After all, he only tried to break into Gryffindor tower. As far as I’m concerned, our children are safe in the dungeons.”

Right, the most common theory was that Black was trying to get revenge for his master by killing Potter. Astoria didn’t know how accurate that guess was, but she had to admit that it was – if nothing else – a possibility. However, her mother was under the impression that her daughters wouldn’t be attacked because they lived in the dungeons, and that information was… Well, wrong, really.

The easiest way to deal with her mother’s concerns – without telling her about the frequent sleepovers – would be to simply stop staying in Gryffindor tower. But… Of all the girls, Astoria was the one who loved the red and gold tower the most. It was ridiculous, really, but the room was always warm and welcoming, and despite the suspicious looks sent her way, Astoria had grown to love that space.

She just hoped that Black would stick to Potter’s dorm and leave the girls’ side alone – could the man even get into their dorms? There were protections in place that made it impossible for boys to access the female wings; surely, they applied to Black as well, right?

“… dangerous, we should never have let the Ministry place them near the school,” Lord Malfoy was saying, his voice weary. “Draco has sent me no less than ten letters asking for their removal since the start of term, and frankly, it’s getting on my nerves.”

“But surely it’s better than leaving the children unprotected,” Astoria’s father pointed out. He wasn’t wrong, except that…

“Sirius already got into the school once,” Lady Malfoy sighed. “And he broke out of Azkaban. Clearly, the dementors don’t work on him like they do on everyone else. If the Minister _truly_ wanted to keep our children safe, he would have assigned Aurors to the area, and you know it just as well as I do.”

“Yes, well…” her father murmured – Astoria was sure that if he had ever resorted to such uncouth gestures, the man would have been shrugging. “I can hardly say that I understand how Fudge works.”

The adults laughed for a moment, and Astoria found herself wondering if she would ever understand politics. She knew that Fudge was often mocked and called a coward, which meant that everyone had either been stupid enough to vote for an incompetent, or his opponents had been worse.

She hoped that by the time she came of age, the man would be long gone.

“And what of the rumours we’ve been hearing about, Lucius?” her mother asked; Astoria’s ears perked up and she made sure to listen as intently as she could. Her friends would want to know everything, so she wanted to make sure that she didn’t miss out on a single second of the adults’ discussion.

“Which ones?” the Malfoy lord chuckled. “There are rumours about everything, all the time, and this year is no exception, especially with Black on the run.”

“Indeed,” her father drawled. “Well then, how about you tell us if there is truth to any of those rumours? We’ve all heard just about everything and anything about Black these last few weeks, but there has to be at least one true statement hidden beneath all of those lies, don’t you think?”

“You’re not… wrong,” Lord Malfoy answered tiredly. “I don’t know how this particular rumour got out, but I hear that it’s amongst the most popular, and I’m afraid that it’s truer than anyone wants to believe,” the man paused for a moment, breathing in deeply enough for Astoria to hear. “Marcus… Black really didn’t get a trial. There’s nothing in the records; nothing about a jury decision or a sentence, not even about a transfer to Azkaban. It’s as though the man was… As though he was taken there straight from the Ministry.”

Astoria almost gasped but managed to stop herself at the last moment. Even though she knew very little about the wizarding world’s justice system, she knew that everyone was supposed to get a trial. It was just how things were done; how could a man be declared guilty if he hadn’t even had a chance to defend himself? If the rumours got out to the masses, there would be an uproar. After all, if he hadn’t been judged, then…

“He could be _innocent_?” her mother hissed, in that voice that always made Astoria flinch and retreat to her bedroom. “Or worse, he could be guilty but allowed to roam free because he was never actually sentenced to anything?”

“It’s… possible,” Lord Malfoy admitted, sounding more defeated than Astoria had ever heard him. “Even if we do catch him, we’ll have to put the man on trial before sending him back to Azkaban. And if it turns out that he was innocent, well… There’s a _reason_ for the dementors, really. If they Kiss Black, then the man will be nothing more than a shell, and the Ministry won’t have to own up to its mistakes.”

“That’s absolutely ridiculous,” Astoria’s mother continued. “Fudge should admit to his faults and call Black in for a formal trial. Perhaps the man would be more… cooperative, then, especially if he is innocent. What do you think, Cissa?”

“I think that you’re right, Heather,” Lady Malfoy answered, her voice honest and open. “My cousin is many things, rash and foolish and maybe even slightly insane, but after all these years… I still don’t believe that he’s a traitor. He loved the Potters more than he loved his own family, and I find it hard to believe that he would ever agree to work with the Dark Lord.”

“And I never saw him at any meetings,” Lord Malfoy added. “In all of my years working for _Him_ , there wasn’t a single mention of Black as anything other than an enemy to take down. Loathe as I am to think about what his innocence might mean for the Ministry, I agree with Narcissa. I do not think that Black was a Death Eater; I don’t think that he bears the Dark Mark, I don’t think that he gave the Potters’ location away, and I don’t even think that he murdered all of those Muggles.”

Having heard enough, Astoria quietly tiptoed away from the parlour and the adults within it, trying to wrap her head around all of the information that she had overheard.

She had _so much_ to tell the girls.

* * *

_Dear Astoria,_

_Although I’m glad to hear that your time spent at the manor has resulted in the discovery of that blasted rumour, I’m sorry that the rest of your time with your family has been disappointing. I know you probably expected me to jump straight into the talk about Black, but I wanted to remind you that we care, and that your parents care as well, even if they don’t always show it._

_I grew up in a manor like you, as you might remember, and even though my mother was hardly there, it doesn’t mean that she loved me any less. I know it’s not the greatest example because my mother is hardly a model parent, but I hope you understand what I’m trying to say. Being a pureblood isn’t as nice as everyone seems to think it is, and I wish that you didn’t have to feel so lonely all of the time._

_If you ever feel like your parents are really forgetting about you, please talk to them, okay? Most of the time, when my dad and I argue about something, it’s because one of us misunderstood the other or because we forgot to take their feelings into careful consideration. I’m sure that your parents love you, and that if you were to remind them about you and your siblings’ existence, they would rush to your side and reassure you that they still care._

_Anyways, enough with the feelings, onto the mystery!_

_I could hardly believe what I read when I received your last letter. The heir to a noble house not receiving a trial? It shouldn’t have happened. Seriously, how did_ anyone _let that happen? When Black is caught, they’re going to have a whole mediatic affair on their hands, and there’s very little they can do to get out of it._

_Hearing that they’re using dementors as a way to get rid of the man before he can damage the political world is… well, it’s completely inhumane, but I don’t understand adults on a good day, let alone the Minister on a bad one! I’d like to believe that if Dumbledore, Lupin, my dad, and the rest of the staff find him first, he’ll have a bit more of a chance, but I don’t know if my father would really believe us if we told him that the man was innocent._

_Rumours, at the end of the day, are just rumours, and if Black isn’t found and arrested, well… People are going to continue thinking that he was guilty and they’re not going to look any further than that._

_I’ll try to broach the topic with my neighbour, ask her what she thinks about the whole situation and if there’s any chance that Black could get a fair trial. I’m not a fan of the man – especially not after what my dad told me about him – but no one deserves to be locked up for something that they didn’t do. Hopefully, even my dad will agree with that._

_Sorry for the long letter, I’m just worried about you being alone in that manor and a little bit panicked after learning about the Black situation._

_Still with love,_

_Victoria_

_***_

_Astoria,_

_So, I have to admit that at first, I really didn’t want to believe what you told us about Black. I mean, I don’t feel personally responsible for him never getting a trial, but it’s a bit disturbing to think about, you know? My parents used to tell me that wizards like Black were the reason why there was fear in this world, and I believed them. If the man is innocent, then what does that say about all of the things I learned as a child? It’s stupid, I know, but I couldn’t really help it._

_But then, of course, something happened with Potter that changed my mind. He received a gift on Christmas day: a brand new firebolt, all shiny and beautiful, but there was no name on the package. He seems to think that it’s from Black and that the man is trying to curse him through his broom – apparently, something like that happened when he was a first year – but with what you told us, well…_

_Maybe Black really_ is _innocent and decided to send Potter a broom because he wanted his godson to be happy. It makes more sense than that curse theory, and for once my brother agrees, although it’s mostly because he wants to be able to try the firebolt. Point is, I believe the rumour, and I believe Lady Malfoy. Traitors and murderers don’t send nice gifts to someone that they’re trying to kill, or at least not harmless gifts that please the recipient so much._

_That was the highlight of my holidays, honestly. Everything else is dull, dull, dull; the school seems to be full of boys, and spending time with the other second-years isn’t anything like spending time with the three of you._

_Love,_

_Ginny_

_***_

_Dear Astoria,_

_Thank you for the Yule gift you sent along with your last letter; the necklace is absolutely beautiful, and the colours are perfect! Did you get the girls one that matches their house, or did you just think that this would make me happy? You were right, of course, but I’m just wondering._

_We’re heading off to my mum’s family tomorrow, which is nice but also… Well, you know how I feel about having to spend time in the Muggle world. It’s not that I don’t love my family, because I do, but I can never read my books around them, and we have to be extremely careful about what we say, and we always end up exhausted by the end of our stay._

_Also, you might want to stop sending me letters for a while; there’s a chance that your owl might realise that I’m not home and leave the letter on a window ledge or somewhere safe, but there’s also a chance that it’ll try to track me down – it does know me quite well – and my dad doesn’t want to have to explain carrier birds to my Muggle relatives._

_Anyways, good news! I managed to get my dad to tell me about the justice system. He was suspicious and clearly wonders whether or not we know about the Black rumour, but he doesn’t want to ask me just in case I_ don’t _know. So, he explained everything as well as he could without talking about Black specifically. You guys should be glad that you didn’t have to sit through that lesson; I think the three of you would have fallen asleep with how boring the whole thing was. Even_ I _barely stayed awake, and I actually quite like hearing about law and stuff like that._

_I’m not going to go into the details right now, but the most important thing to know is that if Black didn’t get a trial, then he technically shouldn’t be hunted down for escaping Azkaban. Charges are enough to declare someone ‘dangerous’ but not exactly enough to set dementors on the man. Basically, if people find out about this, the Minister is absolutely screwed. They should have just set a trial date; it would have been a lot easier to deal with. But well,_ men _, you know?_

_But whether the man is innocent or not, he still tried to break into a tower potentially full of children, so stay cautious and be safe!_

_Love,_

_Felicity_

* * *

Staying in the Muggle world had always been a strange experience for Felicity, and her year and a half at Hogwarts hadn’t helped at all.

She knew that her family was just as human as she was, just as valuable as she was, and she definitely didn’t agree with the anti-muggle sentiment that was so rampant in pureblood society, but… Their world was so dull. They had invented millions of things that wizards could never dream of creating; had made fascinating discoveries with only science at their side; had just as much music and art as the magical side of their country, and yet, it lacked the vibrancy of the community Felicity loved so much.

Her grandparents were always delighted to see her, and her aunts and uncles were amazing people, but every time she looked at her father, Felicity would feel a pang of longing.

Being a half-blood with a muggle parent and a magical parent was probably one of the hardest things that Felicity had to deal with constantly. It was so difficult to love her parents equally when one of them shone so bright. It was almost impossible to talk to her mother about her life when she knew that her father would understand everything so much better. It was frustrating to have to force herself to enjoy her time with her maternal grandparents, when she adored her paternal family so much.

Sometimes, she could hear a tiny voice inside her head whisper that she was just as bad as people like Malfoy, that she was letting prejudice guide her interactions and her relationships. And then, she heard her father tell her that she was underestimating her mother and other Muggles. She heard them, and she tried to convince herself that she could care about her mother the way she cared about her father.

But then, she’d feel her dad’s magic in the air, she’d get lost in the waves of power that came off him when he hugged her tightly, and she couldn’t pretend. She didn’t think that she was inherently better than her mother or her non-magical family, but she was different, and that mattered more than she might have liked. It mattered more than her father thought it did.

“You’re awfully thoughtful tonight, my Felicity,” her mother said softly, startling the brunette out of her own mind.

Her mother looked as beautiful and put together as she always did, and her eyes were as kind as ever. She looked at Felicity as though she was the most amazing thing in her life, and the younger girl glanced away guiltily.

“Is something wrong?” the woman continued, pulling one of Felicity’s hands into her lap and stroking it gently.

“It’s nothing,” the brunette murmured. “I just miss my friends, I guess.”

“I don’t doubt that,” her mother hummed. “But are you sure that that’s what you’re missing the most?”

Her dad was right; Felicity sometimes underestimated her mother. In this case, though, it had nothing to do with magic. Her mum was just a lot more… empathetic than her dad was. She may not always have the answers to her questions, but she was the one who could sense when something was wrong, and she was the one who knew when she needed to talk about it and when she needed to be left alone.

“Not really,” Felicity admitted quietly, thinking about enchanted ceilings and floating plates. “I miss school. I think… I think I always do, just a little bit, even when we’re at home. I’m not sure how dad does it; how he lives without the thrum of energy that’s always in the air when I’m at Hogwarts.”

“Oh, Felicity,” her mother huffed, and the girl looked up sharply. What did the older woman know that she didn’t? “Do you remember what you asked me when you came home from America this summer? I told you then, that of course I could sense your magic. From what your father has explained to me, you have more power than most people do, and on top of that, you’re our _daughter_. There’s always magic around when you’re home.”

There was?

“Really?” she asked curiously. Was she really that bad at controlling her magic? Could her grandparents feel it when she was around? “Does it… Does it bother you?”

Her mother didn’t answer immediately; instead, she looked at Felicity intently, as though she was finally understanding what was going on in her daughter’s head. It made the younger brunette feel like she was being dissected, and although she was used to the sensation, it didn’t make it any easier to deal with.

“Does what bother me, Felicity? Feeling your magic?” her mum asked quietly. “Or not having any myself?”

She could only shrug, not sure what she was asking exactly. She didn’t even know why she was speaking to her mother about this… Did she really miss magic enough that she was willing to broach the only subject that she usually avoided around her mum?

“I don’t know what your father told you, but saying that I can feel magic is… I can do it, but it’s nothing like the energy that you know,” her mother explained. “So it doesn’t bother me, feeling your magic. As to not having any myself… I lived for so long without knowing that it existed, I only discovered you and your father’s world when he was sure that he wanted to marry me. Sometimes, I wish that I could do all the things that you can, but I like my life, Felicity.”

“Okay,” she nodded slowly. She wasn’t sure that she understood her mother; it was hard to understand someone who lived in a whole different world, but if the older woman said that she was happy, then Felicity would believe her. “Okay.”

“Well, don’t you two look miserable,” another voice cut into the conversation. Felicity looked up and grinned at her grandmother, scooting over so that she could sit down on the couch next to her granddaughter. “What sort of depressing things were you telling your daughter, Danielle?”

“Nothing at all, mum,” her mother laughed. “Felicity just misses her friends, that’s all.”

“Oh, right! You go to a boarding school, don’t you, darling?” her grandmother inquired. “Are you having a nice time there?”

“Yeah, it’s great,” Felicity smiled softly. “All of the classes are interesting, except maybe History, but well… We can’t all like everything, can we? And my friends are amazing; we sneak into each other’s dorms and help each other with homework, and I even went to see some of their houses this summer!”

“I’m happy to hear that, darling,” her grandmother said, patting her shoulder. “I don’t think I’d have liked boarding school; much too restrictive for me. The place is safe, right? They still haven’t caught that missing criminal…”

“Sirius Black?” her mother asked sharply, glancing at Felicity pointedly. “I’m sure that Felicity’s school has security dealing with that, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” the younger girl nodded. “They’ve been super careful, especially since Black’s godson goes to the same school as I do. Everyone’s terrified that he’ll be coming for him next.”

“Oh, poor dear…” her grandmother sighed. “He’s not letting it get to him too much, is he? Terrible things, criminals…”

“I’m not really friends with him,” Felicity shrugged. “But he has people close to him, and I think he’s managing just fine. He’s… Well, he’s a _boy_ , you know. They spend most of their time talking about sports and not doing any work… He’s better than some, but my friends are much better.”

“You say that now,” her mother chuckled. “But someday, you’ll come home with a boy and act like he’s the most amazing person in the world.”

“Oh, please,” she scoffed. “Even if I do come back with the boy, I’m sure he’ll be far from the best person in the world. My friends are really high on that list, you know, and I doubt that any of them would appreciate being placed behind a boyfriend.”

“Whatever you say, darling,” her grandmother said, but her eyes were full of mischief. “You’re still a bit young for conversations like this, anyway.”

And with that, the woman was off, leaving Felicity to stare at her incredulously. Her grandmother was so strange sometimes; she could jump from one topic to the next without pausing, and Felicity wasn’t stupid… She had been moping, thinking about magic and missing her friends, and her grandmother had come along to cheer her up.

She may not always understand her Muggle family, but at the end of the day, they were still kind, and they were still worthy of her love.

“She would have been such a good Slytherin,” she sighed, much to her mother’s amusement.

“Oh, really?” the woman laughed. “And what about me? I know where your father thinks I would have gone, but what do you think?”

“You’d have made a great Hufflepuff,” Felicity said decisively. “You’re patient and generous and loyal, and I know that you’ve always worked hard to achieve your goals. But you could have been a Ravenclaw too, probably. It doesn’t really matter.”

“I suppose it doesn’t,” her mother admitted, standing up when her grandmother called them over for dinner. “And Felicity? Remember what we talked about earlier. I don’t love you despite your magic, I love you _for_ it, and for everything else that you are. You have so much power, so much intelligence, so much compassion, my darling. And if you ever need a reminder of that, you know that you can always come to see me. I may not be your father, and I may not understand everything about your world, but I am still your mother.”

* * *

_Dear Felicity,_

_You shouldn’t feel guilty about not liking the Muggle world as much as the Wizarding one, you know. I mean, I’ve never even been there before, so you’re doing a lot more than I am. Besides, no one would blame you if you never went back after you graduated. You could go to see your family once in a while, but no one really expects you to live there or anything._

_I’m not sure I’m the best person to talk to about this, because my family isn’t exactly… Accepting. Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about Muggles myself. I know your mum is a good person, and I don’t want to murder any of them, but I also don’t really think I care about them as a whole, and I’m not particularly interested in their culture._

_Look, I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s okay to prefer Hogwarts and the magical world; no one’s going to think any less of you for it._

_Now, what’s all of this about the muggles knowing Sirius Black? I knew that the Ministry was desperate, but desperate enough to ask the non-magical side of Britain for help, really?_

_I’m getting tired of all this Black nonsense; I’m getting tired of feeling like we’re all going to get murdered in our sleep, and I’m definitely getting tired of the adults not reacting a little bit more. I can’t wait to be back at school with you and the other girls._

_Sincerely,_

_Astoria_

_***_

_Dear Felicity,_

_You should have told me about the feeling magic theory earlier! It’s so interesting to think that there are Muggles out there who can actually sense our power, and it explains so much! I’m going to have to ask my father about this, and maybe do some research!_

_You got this information from your dad and your American friend, right? Do you think you could give me the boy’s address, so that I could ask him some questions?_

_I know we should be discussing Black and thinking about what his innocence could mean and all of that, but I think we’re all a little bit sick of hearing about it. I just… I just wish we could have had a simple year, without a mass murderer. We would have just gone to class and learned about theory and messed around with the professors as they try to catch us sneaking around._

_I’m happy that we’re all going to learn how to cast the Patronus charm together, and adventures always tend to bring us closer, but… Is a peaceful year too much to ask for? Anyways, we’ll be back at Hogwarts soon enough, and then maybe Black will finally be caught and everyone can stop freaking out when they see their own shadow._

_With love,_

_Victoria_

_***_

_Felicity,_

_I’m happy to hear that you made it home safely and that you’ll be on the Hogwarts Express with the other girls tomorrow, as planned. The chances of Black going into the Muggle world were slim, but I’m a little bit of a worrier, sometimes._

_Something’s still bothering me about the map. I think you guys should have a look at it when you get back, just in case. The twins are still looking for it, and I’m still carefully hiding it. I mean, I wouldn’t let them take it away from me, but you can never be too careful when those two are involved._

_I overheard Potter talking with my brother the other day, and it looks like they finally learned that Lupin, Black, and his father were friends. It’s weird to think that they only just figured it out… Shouldn’t Lupin have told Potter about it before? Once again, adults prove to be strange and incomprehensible._

_Other than that, nothing new. I can’t wait to see you again; Hogwarts isn’t the same without all the students milling around._

_I know we already talked about it before, but we definitely have to celebrate Yule at school next year. You guys could teach me all about the traditions, and maybe I would finally feel a little bit closer to our culture – Samhain was amazing, but I want to know more! We could hide in the dungeons if Victoria’s dad let us, and we could do anything that we want! Doesn’t that sound wonderful?_

_Love,_

_Ginny_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! I'm so sorry for the slight delay; I know I said I would get this chapter up for Christmas but life has been a little busy with finals and the holidays! Still, I hope you all enjoyed this longer chapter featuring all of our favourite girls' Yule celebrations <3 The Yule chapters in these fics were some of the nicest to write so they hopefully turned out alright. Thank you all for your patience!
> 
> Love, Junie.

**Author's Note:**

> Your comments, bookmarks, and even kudos mean the world to me and keep me going, so don't hesitate to give this fic some love! 
> 
> (find me on [tumblr](https://hopesilverheart.tumblr.com/))


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